Suvi Korhonen finds opportunities in her neighbourhood that would not exist in a finished, fully built environment. Postipuisto in Pasila is also a home to the temporary multi-purpose facility Rullis, bringing joy, colour and lush greenery to the area.
The new Postipuisto residential area is being built near Pasila and Helsinki Central Park. The first residents moved to Postipuisto in late 2020, and now the area boasts around 4,500 residents.
One of them is Suvi Korhonen, who has lived in this neighbourhood for five years.
“I like having the Central Park and a forest right next to the area. It feels peaceful and nice. I don’t have a dog yet, but I think there are great dog-walking routes close by,” Korhonen says.
Korhonen had not been involved in resident activities while living elsewhere. However, organising the community and the events of the brand-new Postipuisto area drew her in. Korhonen now works as secretary of the residents' association.
Postipuisto residents are active and community-minded, according to Korhonen. As the area had no playground, one of the residents submitted a request to the City of Helsinki for building one.
“Postipuisto has a high number of families with children. Around 800 minors live here. Playgrounds are important, as the children can make friends and the parents can get to know each other,” says Korhonen.
The request resulted in Rullis, a colourful multi-purpose facility – with play areas included.
It took less than a year from the resident's idea to the opening of this temporary multi-purpose facility. That's a very short time for a project that requires cooperation between many different City divisions and planning officers. The desire of local residents for a temporary development was the starting point for the project.
Rullis was also a pilot site for the new contracting model by the Helsinki City Construction Services, Stara.
“Rullis was a great opportunity to test the ‘Design and Create’ contracting approach, which has proven necessary for temporary regeneration projects of urban spaces. The design collaboration helped enhance the end result, which has also pleased the residents,” says Mikko Tervonen, landscape designer and project manager at Stara.
“We had a great dynamic going on when working together, and everyone had the same goal: to get this temporary multi-purpose facility open as soon as possible,” says Stefan Eklöf, project director and landscape architect at the City of Helsinki.
We should work together to create a more functional, efficient and beautiful Helsinki.
The opening day of Rullis attracted a large number of families with children, despite it being a grey, snowy day in December. Eklöf estimates that the event attracted a couple of hundred people. Community centre Postivarikko on Rullakkotori Square makes the market square a diverse, attractive meeting place: as an example, the first Postipuisto Day last August attracted around 1,500 local visitors.
The Rullis playground caters for children of all ages, offering attractions from sandboxes to climbing frames. Eklöf's vision was to incorporate a rich palette of colours, such as yellow and pastel tones, to make the multi-purpose facility warm and welcoming.
Planter boxes along the borders of the area are filled with flowers and small shrubs. They are repurposed surplus plants from another project that have been given a new life in Rullis. There is also shade available for summer playtimes.
The Helsinki City Strategy 2025–2029 is based on the idea of a Helsinki we can be proud of. This applies to both completed areas and areas under construction, and to city residents of all ages.
UNICEF Finland has granted Helsinki the Child-Friendly Municipality award, making it the first capital city in the Nordic countries to achieve this honour. In Stefan Eklöf's work, child-related aspects are highlighted especially in the design of green spaces and parks.
“We must create spaces that allow children to play now, not five years from now. What are they supposed to do in the meantime?” Eklöf asks.
According to Eklöf, Rullis is a good example of a temporary solution. The model can also be applied in other areas if there is a suitable location for it.
Bringing about change, even if it is temporary, requires a joint effort – both between City workers and different actors, as well as between city residents.
“We should work together to create a more functional, efficient and beautiful Helsinki,” says Eklöf.
When Suvi Korhonen spends a day working remotely at home, she can see a crane being operated outside her window, building a school and a daycare centre right next to her residential block. Korhonen’s residential building is part of a larger block with a shared courtyard. The courtyard has planting boxes and plots for cultivation for the residents to rent.
Korhonen has been able to get to know her neighbours, especially while enjoying their shared sauna. During the weekly public sauna shifts, the residents chat about what is going on in the area, and Korhonen has also made use of these moments to invite her neighbours to the events organised by the residents' association.
I think there’s something fun about an area still under construction, a certain sense of adventure.
Korhonen enjoys the unfinished feel of Postipuisto. There’s an undeveloped plot with a hill that allowed holding a sledding event for more than a hundred people on Shrove Tuesday. Temporary dog toilets and small urban meadows have also been built in the area. Korhonen sees that this unfinished state offers opportunities that a fully developed area might not have.
“I think there’s something fun in an area still under construction, a certain sense of adventure. When the plot with the hill is developed one day, we will have to find a new place for sledding."
The temporary Rullis facility will be in use for the time being, until the area’s official large park with playgrounds is completed next to the Central Park.
