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This is absolutely the new definition of “library”, and honestly though I came here to criticize an egotistical architectural exercise, after reading more about

by zaroth 7y ago

This is absolutely the new definition of “library”, and honestly though I came here to criticize an egotistical architectural exercise, after reading more about Oodi I am suitably impressed. $100 million is an extremely good deal for what they got, and they say that includes the equipment? I don’t quite believe they built it for that little. My town (population ~15,000) wanted to build a new library last year — it was voted down as unnecessary — at a cost of almost ~$30 million for a two story 30,000 sq. ft building. Oodi’s 185,000 square feet is an exquisite leisure center, and with up to 20,000 visitors a day sounds like a fantastic investment for Helsinki.

WillPostForFood 7y ago
Similar story in my city, though the library was built. Took 6 years, $46 million dollars ($10 million over budget), for a two story 40,000 sq foot building. It again raises the question of why projects like this are so hard, expensive, and slow in the US.
hn_throwaway_99 7y ago
Wow, where does it say $100 million? Austin opened a new central library recently, and while I was originally skeptical I think they did an amazing job - really cozy, human-centered architecture that's beautiful. I love going there to work and read, and it's become my favorite building in Austin. But it was considerably more than $100 million (I think around $125), so kudos to the Finns for such a great job.
zepearl 7y ago
I guess that one of the real problem are the recurring yearly fixed & variable costs of the facility after it has been built (which is often "forgotten" by the politician/s that try to push a project to get votes), which might be a bit challenging for such a small town (~15'000) if it has to maintain as well other existing structures (e.g. swimming pool, museum, etc...). My town (~10'000) has a library, 3 schools, a big outdoor public swimming pool that can be used as well during wintertimes (gets covered by a roof) + another small swimming pool in one of the schools, a modern art museum, an ice rink, an athletics & football stadium, 3 indoor gyms (a big public one for national competitions + 2 small ones usually used by the schools), a parkour track in the woods, a theatre, a cinema, (maybe I've forgotten something) => it was absolutely no problem building them, but the $ needed for the maintenance&depreciation of the structures and the salaries of the employees was underestimated => now that the town is not anymore in the "big boom"-phase we have a huge budget problem (I'd like to get rid first of the modern art museum but apparently the opposition is very strong and well-connected).

by zaroth 7y ago

WillPostForFood 7y ago

Similar story in my city, though the library was built. Took 6 years, $46 million dollars ($10 million over budget), for a two story 40,000 sq foot building. It again raises the question of why projects like this are so hard, expensive, and slow in the US.

hn_throwaway_99 7y ago

Wow, where does it say $100 million? Austin opened a new central library recently, and while I was originally skeptical I think they did an amazing job - really cozy, human-centered architecture that's beautiful. I love going there to work and read, and it's become my favorite building in Austin. But it was considerably more than $100 million (I think around $125), so kudos to the Finns for such a great job.

zepearl 7y ago

I guess that one of the real problem are the recurring yearly fixed & variable costs of the facility after it has been built (which is often "forgotten" by the politician/s that try to push a project to get votes), which might be a bit challenging for such a small town (~15'000) if it has to maintain as well other existing structures (e.g. swimming pool, museum, etc...). My town (~10'000) has a library, 3 schools, a big outdoor public swimming pool that can be used as well during wintertimes (gets covered by a roof) + another small swimming pool in one of the schools, a modern art museum, an ice rink, an athletics & football stadium, 3 indoor gyms (a big public one for national competitions + 2 small ones usually used by the schools), a parkour track in the woods, a theatre, a cinema, (maybe I've forgotten something) => it was absolutely no problem building them, but the $ needed for the maintenance&depreciation of the structures and the salaries of the employees was underestimated => now that the town is not anymore in the "big boom"-phase we have a huge budget problem (I'd like to get rid first of the modern art museum but apparently the opposition is very strong and well-connected).