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Tapiola
Tapiola (Finnish: [ˈtɑpiolɑ]; Swedish: ⓘ) is a district of the municipality of Espoo on the south coast of Finland, and is one of the major urban centres of Espoo. It is located in the western part of Helsinki capital region. The name Tapiola is derived from Tapio, who is the forest god of Finnish mythology, especially as expressed in the Kalevala.
Tapiola was largely constructed in the 1950s and 1960s by the Finnish housing foundation and was designed as a garden city. It is the location of the Espoo cultural centre, the Espoo Museum of Modern Art (EMMA), the Espoo city museum, and the Espoo City Theatre.
According to the Finnish National Board of Antiquities, Tapiola was the largest and most valuable example of the 1960s construction ideologies in Finland. Its architecture and landscaping that combine urban living with nature have attracted tourists ever since.
The original name for the Tapiola area was Björnvik, based on a bay with the same name, currently called Otsolahti (both names mean "Bay of bears", in Swedish and Finnish respectively), and the island of Björnholm on the southeastern side of the bay and the Björnholm croft located on the island. A mansion called Hagalund was builtr on the lands of the Björnvik village in the 19th century, giving rise to the Swedish name for Tapiola, Hagalund. The Finnish name Tapiola was the result of a competition held for the name of a new garden city in the 1950s. The name is based on the god Tapio in the ancient Finnish religion, which also has a connection to the traditional bear motive.
As car traffic in Finland started increasing in the 1920s, planning for a southern road connection westwards from Helsinki started. The city of Helsinki bought the island of Lauttasaari in the 1930s and a decision to construct a road from Lauttasaari to the village of Jorvas (presently located in the municipality of Kirkkonummi) was made. The road Jorvaksentie (now known as the Länsiväylä highway) running on the southern border of Tapiola was opened for traffic in 1937. When the Soviet Union returned the Porkkala area to Finland in 1956, this road became an important connection to the western part of Uusimaa. Turning the road into a motorway started in 1961 and the road reached Espoonlahti in 1969. At this point the road was officially named Länsiväylä.
The part of the Kehä I beltway from Länsiväylä to Leppävaara, forming the eastern border of Tapiola, was built in the 1960s as a public road.
After the Continuation War had ended in 1944 the entire country of Finland suffered from shortage of housing. In the Moscow Armistice, Finland had been forced to reinstate all the areas it had ceded from the Soviet Union, which meant that the evacuees from Finnish Karelia had to be settled in Finland. Already during the Continuation War, the Finnish Family Federation had decided that action had to be taken to relieve the shortage of housing.
Tapiola was one of the first post-war "new town" projects in Continental Europe. It was created by a private non-profit enterprise called Asuntosäätiö (the Housing Foundation), which was established in 1951 by six social trade organisations including the Confederation of Finnish Trade Unions, the Central Organisation of Tenants, the Mannerheim Child Welfare Federation, the Finnish Federation of Civilian and Military Invalids and the Civil Servants' Federation.
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Tapiola
Tapiola (Finnish: [ˈtɑpiolɑ]; Swedish: ⓘ) is a district of the municipality of Espoo on the south coast of Finland, and is one of the major urban centres of Espoo. It is located in the western part of Helsinki capital region. The name Tapiola is derived from Tapio, who is the forest god of Finnish mythology, especially as expressed in the Kalevala.
Tapiola was largely constructed in the 1950s and 1960s by the Finnish housing foundation and was designed as a garden city. It is the location of the Espoo cultural centre, the Espoo Museum of Modern Art (EMMA), the Espoo city museum, and the Espoo City Theatre.
According to the Finnish National Board of Antiquities, Tapiola was the largest and most valuable example of the 1960s construction ideologies in Finland. Its architecture and landscaping that combine urban living with nature have attracted tourists ever since.
The original name for the Tapiola area was Björnvik, based on a bay with the same name, currently called Otsolahti (both names mean "Bay of bears", in Swedish and Finnish respectively), and the island of Björnholm on the southeastern side of the bay and the Björnholm croft located on the island. A mansion called Hagalund was builtr on the lands of the Björnvik village in the 19th century, giving rise to the Swedish name for Tapiola, Hagalund. The Finnish name Tapiola was the result of a competition held for the name of a new garden city in the 1950s. The name is based on the god Tapio in the ancient Finnish religion, which also has a connection to the traditional bear motive.
As car traffic in Finland started increasing in the 1920s, planning for a southern road connection westwards from Helsinki started. The city of Helsinki bought the island of Lauttasaari in the 1930s and a decision to construct a road from Lauttasaari to the village of Jorvas (presently located in the municipality of Kirkkonummi) was made. The road Jorvaksentie (now known as the Länsiväylä highway) running on the southern border of Tapiola was opened for traffic in 1937. When the Soviet Union returned the Porkkala area to Finland in 1956, this road became an important connection to the western part of Uusimaa. Turning the road into a motorway started in 1961 and the road reached Espoonlahti in 1969. At this point the road was officially named Länsiväylä.
The part of the Kehä I beltway from Länsiväylä to Leppävaara, forming the eastern border of Tapiola, was built in the 1960s as a public road.
After the Continuation War had ended in 1944 the entire country of Finland suffered from shortage of housing. In the Moscow Armistice, Finland had been forced to reinstate all the areas it had ceded from the Soviet Union, which meant that the evacuees from Finnish Karelia had to be settled in Finland. Already during the Continuation War, the Finnish Family Federation had decided that action had to be taken to relieve the shortage of housing.
Tapiola was one of the first post-war "new town" projects in Continental Europe. It was created by a private non-profit enterprise called Asuntosäätiö (the Housing Foundation), which was established in 1951 by six social trade organisations including the Confederation of Finnish Trade Unions, the Central Organisation of Tenants, the Mannerheim Child Welfare Federation, the Finnish Federation of Civilian and Military Invalids and the Civil Servants' Federation.
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