7 ms·

A Tour of Oodi

177 points by zdw 6mo ago

fsloth 6mo ago
Really nice building and space. The article summarizes the functional parts so well. What is very hard to communicate is the feeling of space, especially in the top floor with the books. It's sort of unique, and recommend a visit anyone traveling nearby. I worked at the company that developed the software used to design the construction of Oodi (Trimble/ Tekla Structures). It's so awesome to walk through a building you know the tool you helped to build, helped to build :D
zokier 6mo ago
To me the actual book section of Oodi is not particularly interesting/inspiring/impressive. It's not bad, but it is pretty mundane and gets overshadowed by all the other stuff going on in the building.
- sfeng 6mo ago
  Famously the actual main library at Pasila has a much larger book collection. Oodi is more of a community space / show piece.
- calpaterson 6mo ago
  Fair, but it is part of a pretty large library system and you can order whatever you want to pickup at Oodi
- Hamuko 6mo ago
  Oodi was noted in the media to be particularly unimpressive when it came to actually having books back when it opened. https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000005933560.html https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000005933560.html
- amakhov 6mo ago
  Well, book collection of the particular library doesn't matter much nowadays since you can order a book online and it will be delivered to your closest library. So it's more like a public space.
cxr 6mo ago
This is the future of libraries, and it sucks. Austin's downtown Central Library is like this. It sucks. They are not places for reaching the future. Previously: > So many environments nowadays, even the ones that are ostensibly created to fulfill this sort of thing, are just total failures at actually providing them. I'm thinking of things like public libraries. I live in Austin and have a major axe to grind about the public libraries here, which are nothing like what you'd get if you were actually interested in the pro-social goals that you'd think a public library would have in its charter. A teenager looking to escape their high-risk environment or an adult who's had their feet knocked out from beneath them basically stands no chance at getting out of their predicament if their only option were to use the public libraries here, which would unfortunately act more like a vortex to ensure they stay in the suck. <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42323264 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42323264> The photos and breathless wonderment showcase it all, as well as this choice line from the slide at the top of this post: "Oodi is our common living room". These are not quiet places to study or get (back) on your feet. These are non-commercial substitutes for the shopping malls of yestercentury first, egoistic art pieces and boondoggle for administrative make-work second, and well-intentioned but poorly thought out and executed public resources at a very, very, very, very, very distant third.
- Sharlin 6mo ago
  Happily, Helsinkians don't agree. Everyone seems to love Oodi.
  - deleted 6mo ago
    [deleted]
  - cxr 6mo ago
    It would "seem" that "everyone" loves Austin's downtown Central Library. Reality: they don't.
    - ks2048 6mo ago
      There's nothing "everyone" loves. Austin Central Library has a 4.7/5.0 on 1,464 reviews on Google Maps. Of course, this is a biased sample. But, I think it's safe to say lots of people love it.
emilfihlman 6mo ago
It's awful as a library, mediocre as an event space and not really good as a hacker space. It's beautiful, though, but that's about it. t. a Finn
- adityaathalye 6mo ago
  Well, you have no idea how good you have it :,) t. not a Finn.
aifhyahdhd 6mo ago
[flagged]
- aifhyahdhd 6mo ago
  [flagged]
  - deleted 6mo ago
    [deleted]
- nnevatie 6mo ago
  It almost reads as you were not a fan.
- alterom 6mo ago
  >Have fun with homeless people committing theft in the library. Oh yeah. In Finland, the country notoriously famous for its unmanageable homelessness problem. Get a reality check, my friend.
- jdlshore 6mo ago
  > fire everyone involved with this. I know you’re just trying to show off how superior you are, and you haven’t really thought through the implications of somebody getting fired for making a mistake, but I’d like this rhetorical flourish to end. Making a mistake (or disappointing an internet commenter who’s put in very little thought and even less effort into a solution) isn’t something that should threaten people’s livelihoods. On a related note, your style of post comes across as immature and/or socially inept. You might want to rethink how you present yourself online.
- balgg 6mo ago
  >Why spend taxpayer money on enabling people to watch braindead, mindrotting zombie movies for free or cheap? Might want to open their webpage at least once before you spout such uninformed opinions: https://kinoregina.fi/ https://kinoregina.fi/ Their whole thing is showing mostly culturally important films from known and lesser known directors/actors from around the world. I honestly don't think it could provide much more cultural value than it already does. I was going to write more but the more I read your post it just looks like troll post so I'll just point out that yes, they do also provide movie and arts education, which is also stated on their website.
petetnt 6mo ago
Kino Regina, the movie theater mentioned, is owned and operated by the Finnish Arts and Culture Agency and does not only show classics, but also a lot of contemporary movies of note, right up until recent releases. It has modern hi-grade digifilm equipment but is also equiped to show film from eg. 70mm and cinemascope formats. They also host concerts and seminars.
- pimeys 6mo ago
  Last summer I was visiting Helsinki and they showed Prince's Sign O’ The Times live from 35mm film in that theater. They have these public votes every now and then where you can vote to see some movie from their archives. I never saw this from a huge screen, and it was fantastic. Be aware if you go see a movie that's not in English, they quite often only have Finnish subtitles.
tarvaina 6mo ago
I live nearby and really enjoy Oodi. It's usually much busier than in these pictures.
oe 6mo ago
The article mentions it in passing, but Oodi is an important stop for parents with babies. The third floor is quite often packed with strollers. Sure you can hang out in any cafe, but I find it valuable to have a place like Oodi that's free, easy to access, and built with kids in mind. When taking the kids on trips in Helsinki, we often visit Oodi to eat lunch, just because it's so easy. Or the whole trip might be just to visit Oodi, eat, and grab a couple books. Of course the central location helps a lot.
- blks 6mo ago
  I take my kids to Leikkipuisto that is organised there few times a week. It’s an event for kids of different ages, with some playing, socialising, some programme. Activities for parents too
elcapitan 6mo ago
Personally as a lover of public libraries, which to me have always been places to discover old and new books in a quiet atmosphere, this change of the "library" to some sort of community center is rather annoying. You usually end up with a minimum viable amount of books, all the interesting stuff hidden away in a magazine, so that you can't browse and discover yourself, and a high level of noise and distraction everywhere. I'm not against creating such community spaces at all, but please keep the library alive and open and separate from those very different activities.
- Insanity 6mo ago
  Yeah I share your sentiment, but spaces like this might be what’s needed to expose the next generation to books.
wvh 6mo ago
Oodi is more an experiment in creating a social, communal meeting space than a library. I think there's a terrible need for such social spaces in modern society with very few places where you can meet people and where you don't need to consume to hang out somewhere; this especially in countries with climates that make it difficult to hang out in streets and market places. What's also special is that this is a beautiful building, instead of the derelict buildings such social projects get usually shoved away in. And, it's welcoming to babies and children.
timonoko 6mo ago
These are just echoes of Soviet Era "Cultural Palaces" aka "Folkets Hus" in Socialists-run Sweden. For the "Culture" no one wants to pay their own money for. I visited only once, using the Toilet. Kinda Scary. It was gender-free, consisting of large locked cubicles, which were mostly occupied as kiosks for drugs and sexual services. Romanian Romas also had permanent presence there. But sadly this gender-free dream was destroyed by the order of the Nazi Polizei.

177 points by zdw 6mo ago

Really nice building and space. The article summarizes the functional parts so well. What is very hard to communicate is the feeling of space, especially in the top floor with the books. It's sort of unique, and recommend a visit anyone traveling nearby. I worked at the company that developed the software used to design the construction of Oodi (Trimble/ Tekla Structures). It's so awesome to walk through a building you know the tool you helped to build, helped to build :D

zokier 6mo ago

To me the actual book section of Oodi is not particularly interesting/inspiring/impressive. It's not bad, but it is pretty mundane and gets overshadowed by all the other stuff going on in the building.

sfeng 6mo ago
Famously the actual main library at Pasila has a much larger book collection. Oodi is more of a community space / show piece.
calpaterson 6mo ago
Fair, but it is part of a pretty large library system and you can order whatever you want to pickup at Oodi
Hamuko 6mo ago
Oodi was noted in the media to be particularly unimpressive when it came to actually having books back when it opened. https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000005933560.html https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000005933560.html
amakhov 6mo ago
Well, book collection of the particular library doesn't matter much nowadays since you can order a book online and it will be delivered to your closest library. So it's more like a public space.

cxr 6mo ago

This is the future of libraries, and it sucks. Austin's downtown Central Library is like this. It sucks. They are not places for reaching the future. Previously: > So many environments nowadays, even the ones that are ostensibly created to fulfill this sort of thing, are just total failures at actually providing them. I'm thinking of things like public libraries. I live in Austin and have a major axe to grind about the public libraries here, which are nothing like what you'd get if you were actually interested in the pro-social goals that you'd think a public library would have in its charter. A teenager looking to escape their high-risk environment or an adult who's had their feet knocked out from beneath them basically stands no chance at getting out of their predicament if their only option were to use the public libraries here, which would unfortunately act more like a vortex to ensure they stay in the suck. <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42323264 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42323264> The photos and breathless wonderment showcase it all, as well as this choice line from the slide at the top of this post: "Oodi is our common living room". These are not quiet places to study or get (back) on your feet. These are non-commercial substitutes for the shopping malls of yestercentury first, egoistic art pieces and boondoggle for administrative make-work second, and well-intentioned but poorly thought out and executed public resources at a very, very, very, very, very distant third.

Sharlin 6mo ago
Happily, Helsinkians don't agree. Everyone seems to love Oodi.
- deleted 6mo ago
  [deleted]
- cxr 6mo ago
  It would "seem" that "everyone" loves Austin's downtown Central Library. Reality: they don't.
  - ks2048 6mo ago
    There's nothing "everyone" loves. Austin Central Library has a 4.7/5.0 on 1,464 reviews on Google Maps. Of course, this is a biased sample. But, I think it's safe to say lots of people love it.

emilfihlman 6mo ago

It's awful as a library, mediocre as an event space and not really good as a hacker space. It's beautiful, though, but that's about it. t. a Finn

adityaathalye 6mo ago
Well, you have no idea how good you have it :,) t. not a Finn.

aifhyahdhd 6mo ago

[flagged]

aifhyahdhd 6mo ago
[flagged]
- deleted 6mo ago
  [deleted]
nnevatie 6mo ago
It almost reads as you were not a fan.
alterom 6mo ago
>Have fun with homeless people committing theft in the library. Oh yeah. In Finland, the country notoriously famous for its unmanageable homelessness problem. Get a reality check, my friend.
jdlshore 6mo ago
> fire everyone involved with this. I know you’re just trying to show off how superior you are, and you haven’t really thought through the implications of somebody getting fired for making a mistake, but I’d like this rhetorical flourish to end. Making a mistake (or disappointing an internet commenter who’s put in very little thought and even less effort into a solution) isn’t something that should threaten people’s livelihoods. On a related note, your style of post comes across as immature and/or socially inept. You might want to rethink how you present yourself online.
balgg 6mo ago
>Why spend taxpayer money on enabling people to watch braindead, mindrotting zombie movies for free or cheap? Might want to open their webpage at least once before you spout such uninformed opinions: https://kinoregina.fi/ https://kinoregina.fi/ Their whole thing is showing mostly culturally important films from known and lesser known directors/actors from around the world. I honestly don't think it could provide much more cultural value than it already does. I was going to write more but the more I read your post it just looks like troll post so I'll just point out that yes, they do also provide movie and arts education, which is also stated on their website.

petetnt 6mo ago

Kino Regina, the movie theater mentioned, is owned and operated by the Finnish Arts and Culture Agency and does not only show classics, but also a lot of contemporary movies of note, right up until recent releases. It has modern hi-grade digifilm equipment but is also equiped to show film from eg. 70mm and cinemascope formats. They also host concerts and seminars.

pimeys 6mo ago
Last summer I was visiting Helsinki and they showed Prince's Sign O’ The Times live from 35mm film in that theater. They have these public votes every now and then where you can vote to see some movie from their archives. I never saw this from a huge screen, and it was fantastic. Be aware if you go see a movie that's not in English, they quite often only have Finnish subtitles.

tarvaina 6mo ago

I live nearby and really enjoy Oodi. It's usually much busier than in these pictures.

oe 6mo ago

The article mentions it in passing, but Oodi is an important stop for parents with babies. The third floor is quite often packed with strollers. Sure you can hang out in any cafe, but I find it valuable to have a place like Oodi that's free, easy to access, and built with kids in mind. When taking the kids on trips in Helsinki, we often visit Oodi to eat lunch, just because it's so easy. Or the whole trip might be just to visit Oodi, eat, and grab a couple books. Of course the central location helps a lot.

blks 6mo ago
I take my kids to Leikkipuisto that is organised there few times a week. It’s an event for kids of different ages, with some playing, socialising, some programme. Activities for parents too

elcapitan 6mo ago

Personally as a lover of public libraries, which to me have always been places to discover old and new books in a quiet atmosphere, this change of the "library" to some sort of community center is rather annoying. You usually end up with a minimum viable amount of books, all the interesting stuff hidden away in a magazine, so that you can't browse and discover yourself, and a high level of noise and distraction everywhere. I'm not against creating such community spaces at all, but please keep the library alive and open and separate from those very different activities.

Insanity 6mo ago
Yeah I share your sentiment, but spaces like this might be what’s needed to expose the next generation to books.

wvh 6mo ago

Oodi is more an experiment in creating a social, communal meeting space than a library. I think there's a terrible need for such social spaces in modern society with very few places where you can meet people and where you don't need to consume to hang out somewhere; this especially in countries with climates that make it difficult to hang out in streets and market places. What's also special is that this is a beautiful building, instead of the derelict buildings such social projects get usually shoved away in. And, it's welcoming to babies and children.

timonoko 6mo ago

These are just echoes of Soviet Era "Cultural Palaces" aka "Folkets Hus" in Socialists-run Sweden. For the "Culture" no one wants to pay their own money for. I visited only once, using the Toilet. Kinda Scary. It was gender-free, consisting of large locked cubicles, which were mostly occupied as kiosks for drugs and sexual services. Romanian Romas also had permanent presence there. But sadly this gender-free dream was destroyed by the order of the Nazi Polizei.