Erasmus Exhibition

Helsinki School of Natural Sciences

Jan Čech

Annotation

The task of the Reuse of Buildings Studio was to find a new function and design an adequate change for the Gardenia complex in Viikki in north-eastern Helsinki - with an emphasis on the central greenhouse building of the area. Gardenia Viikki is a small complex of buildings located on the edge of “Eco-Viikki” residential district and was built at the end of the 1990s as an information centre for ecological education. However, after 10 years of use, the building turned out to be impossible to economically run and was closed and remains empty until today. My proposed solution is to use the complex to house a new type of campus school for Helsingin luonnontiedelukio (Helsinki school of natural sciences), which could closely cooperate with the neighboring campus of University of Helsinki.

my key experience from erasmus

I could write a lot about being abroad during coronavirus pandemic. About the decision not to return home, when European countries started to close their borders. About the necessary ability to flexibly react to current situation (which I don’t have). It’s true that the coronavirus situation had a big impact on my stay in Finland and that it has been a weird semester. But that wasn’t that important.

The experience gained in university courses also weren’t the key ones (although almost all of the courses were really enriching).

The most important experience for me was getting to know the Finnish society. Society in which cooperation, community and equality is valued the most, where sustainability is debated in every topic, society that is not afraid of walking new paths and trying new things.

University name

Aalto University

Supervisor's name

Mikko Summanen

semester

Summer semester 2020

Year

5

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