VR warehouses
The VR warehouses (Finnish: VR:n makasiinit) were a group of redbrick railway warehouses in the centre of Helsinki, Finland. Their official address was 13 Mannerheimintie. The oldest parts of the warehouses were designed by Bruno Granholm and built in 1898–1899, when they served as the cargo terminal for the Helsinki Central railway station. The warehouses were extended in 1908 and 1917, and the most recent additions were from the 1950s. They were used by the state-owned VR Group as cargo warehouses until the 1980s when they were abandoned and gradually fell into disrepair. The warehouses were without a permanent specific purpose but could be rented by anyone wishing to organize some sort of public event.
The warehouses were a popular location for regular fleamarkets. Also, various music concerts, including the Tuska heavy metal festival during 1999 and 2000, were often held at the warehouses, and in 2004 and 2005 they hosted Perv Park, Helsinki's biggest BDSM convention. The warehouses included a couple of ecological shops and band rehearsal studios.
The warehouses had been under a threat of demolition to make way for a new Helsinki Music Centre concert hall for almost a decade. In early 2006, a decision was finally made to construct the Music Hall on the site, preserving only a small section of the warehouses for use as a pavilion-type cafe within the park surrounding the concert hall. The demolition work began on May 6, 2006 following a fire the previous day.
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[edit] Fire
On Friday May 5, 2006, the older southern warehouse was badly damaged by a blazing fire. The building was totally gutted, the fire leaving just the brick walls standing. It was widely believed at first that the fire was a case of arson, but police concluded in July that year that it had been an accidental fire that smouldered for several hours before suddenly breaking out across a large part of the building.[1]
However, this event had been preceded by the EuroMayDay riots just a few days earlier. Some people decided to set up a bonfire between the warehouses in the night of May 1. The fire almost got to the warehouses, and when the fire department tried to put it out, they were attacked by a group of people. Riot police were dispatched to protect the firemen, and they also had stones thrown at them.
A small section at the end of the southern warehouse damaged by fire was planned to be preserved and used as a pavilion-like cafe extension to the concert hall. This viewpoint was contrary, however, to many people's wishes to preserve the warehouses in their entirety due to their perceived historical and communal value. However, in August 2006, the Finnish police mistakenly ordered the demolition of the protected section.[1]
[edit] The urban context of the warehouses
Due to the way Helsinki had developed with the construction of the Helsinki Central railway station in 1900, a large area of land in the centre of the city was left for use as a railway yard. There had been numerous plans to integrate the area within the city plan, including master plans by architects Eliel Saarinen and Alvar Aalto, none of which were realised. Consequently, a number of key public buildings ended up being built around the edge of the yards, including the Parliament building, the Finlandia Hall concert hall and the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art. As the state railways had decreasing need of the railway yard, it became to be regarded as a waste ground, and the City of Helsinki began to promote new uses for the site, and in 1985 held an architecture-city planning competition for the area. The results again proved inconclusive and the area has since been developed piecemeal.[2] In a stage II plan for an extension to Kiasma, American architect Steven Holl proposed a park-feature spreading directly north from his own building and cutting directly through the warehouses. The idea plan was never taken any further.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Police mistakenly tear down protected part of railway warehouse". Helsingin Sanomat. http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Police+mistakenly+tear+down+protected+part+of+railway+warehouse/1135221002538.
- ^ Kimmo Oksanen, "Makasiinit (1899–2006)", Helsinki: Helsingin Sanomat, 2007. ISBN 978952555709
- ^ Gareth Griffiths, "Steven Holl and his Critics", PTAH, Helsinki, 2005
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: VR Warehouses |
- Helsingin Sanomat International Edition: Riot police battle crowds throwing stones and lighting fires on May Day Eve
- NewsRoom Finland: Finnish Railways warehouses in central Helsinki ravaged by fire
- Webcam showing how the site is gradually being replaced by the Music Centre
Coordinates: 60°10.383′N 24°56.134′E / 60.17305°N 24.935567°E
