1973 Oulu
HYPOSTYLE HALL
The Hypostyle Hall is a communal art project that takes place in Mustalahdentie in the Vuosaari district of Helsinki. One of the most essential things in the project is to introduce people to the working methods of communal art, where work is done in collaboration with many different operators. In the project, an architectural space is designed together with marginalized people. The space is intended to function as a recreative public space. Because the people involved in the project belong to the margins of society, their status in the Vuosaari community is controversial.
The questions concerning the community and the factors contributing to it had already been raised when I joined the project. The issues pertaining to the formation of the community had been brought up in the context of a redevelopment project of Central Vuosaari in the mid-1990s. A canopy-like structure called the Hypostyle Hall was created during the redevelopment project, but it has largely been destroyed over the years.
Now, sixteen years later, a new renovation project called the Renaissance of Central Vuosaari has started. This recent project posed a threat to the remains and the location of the earlier structure, as they were in danger of being demolished by construction work. Consequently, the city moved the project into another place that the actual users of the space were allowed to choose. As of now, the plan change is pending investigation.
Â