Puu-Käpylä, Helsinki, 'revisited'

I say 'revisited' but it appears that the only visiting I've done to this remarkable site for the purposes of this blog (although I've actually been there four times in the last five years if not more) is a link to a rather dodgy video I made a few years ago which gives the scant background to the region (I have deleted this, it's stupid). First of all, let's visit it in 1966. The second of the videos on this page is a short television film about the threat to the area from redevelopment (as decreed necessary by the City of Helsinki).

There are six ‘Käpyläs’ in Finland, many seemingly with approximately the same heritage and comprising wooden houses in open gardens. Puu-Käpylä, the grandest and most famous, is located at the end of a specially-constructed tram line in the northern suburbs of Helsinki. 

‘Puu’ means ‘wood’; designer Otto-Iivari Meurman did little more, conceptually speaking, than expand (or explode?) the traditional block seen at Amuri (which I will write about ASAP), to put gaps between the (generally, semi-detached) homes and provide much greater space at the centre of the block, yet still with amenities buildings and spaces for play and domestic work – the beating of carpets, for instance. 

At Puu-Käpylä last week, two women – mother and daughter? – set up a ‘popup puutarhakahvila’ (‘popup garden café’) for the afternoon, selling coffee (free refills) and delights such as zucchini cupcakes. Mid-20^th century pop music – Django Reinhardt or Anton Karas? – plays from the house, and an assortment of chairs and tables are carefully placed around the lawn. The capacity for a Finnish garden to blossom wholesomely in summer is everywhere in evidence, including the occasional (but avoidable) wasp.

The interior spaces of Puu-Käpylä – this temporary puutarhakavhvila bordered on one, to the north of the tramline on Pohjolagankatu – are large and full of amenities. A children’s playground complete with sandpit and permanent box for communal toys; washing lines; a building including a sauna and laundry; a noticeboard featuring meeting minutes and detail of damage noted in the area (a leaking chute or a damaged concrete plinth – the list is over a year old) and a roster for use of the laundry; small vegetable and herb gardens just outside residents’ homes; seating and tables and, sad but true, the ubiquitous Finnish urban feature of a jar or tin crammed if not overflowing with cigarette butts (not pictured!).

The green notice is about parts of the estate which have been damaged. It's dated early 2015. The top two pages are meeting minutes. The bottom left is regarding laundry use. 

 'key recovery service down the adjacent block to the mailbox'

 Permanent toybox for what I assume are communal toys

 Looking into backyard

See it on google maps here.