The end of November is approaching in Helsinki and our urban garden is still green – at least partly. It looks like the poor fava beans are mistaken there’ll be another summer ahead, as they have just started blossoming again. Last year at this time a thick layer of snow was already covering our city. (more…)
Category Archives: DIY
THE EXTENDED SUMMER
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2 YEARS OF TIME BANKING
Illustration: Sanna Pelliccioni
This week the Helsinki Time Bank celebrates its 2nd birthday. What first began as a circle of neighbours and friends in Kumpula, Helsinki, has quickly grown into an Internet-based network of at least a thousand people. (more…)
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A TROPICAL NIGHT RIDE
Photography: Johannes Romppanen
Bicycle brunches, free concerts, independent art exhibitions, hammocks, swimming and night movies. This summer Kalasatama has proved to be the perfect location to spend warm days and nights in the city.
Last wednesday, the We Love Helsinki community celebrated a Bicycle Day in Kalasatama in an almost tropical summer night. The event, created together with a number of voluntary urban activists, started at Bermuda Helsinki’s container with live music, bicycle repair and brunch for a voluntary fee, freshly roasted coffee by Kaffa, drinks from the bicycle bar, and radler (traditional cyclists’ drink) from a bicycle tank by Pelago. At 10pm, over 300 cyclists started a night ride around the centre of Helsinki. The almost endless line of riders ringing their bells and curving through the streets was a spectacular sight. (more…)
Also posted in Community, Events / Exhibitions, Helsinki Beyond Dreams, Kalasatama Temporary, Participation, Unfinished City Tagged Helsinki Leave a comment
FOR THE LOVE OF FOOD
Wild herb pizzas queuing for the oven in Kalasatama
Last Saturday 21 May was a historical day in Helsinki. For one day, anyone could start their own pop-up restaurant, anywhere, and regardless of what the rules say. The first ever Ravintolapäivä (Restaudant Day) was a carneval-like celebration in favour of richer food cultures and against rules that sometimes make food such a complicated question. Organised through a Facebook event, small and original restaurants popped up just for a few hours – on the streets, parks, clothing shops or homes, offering tapas, drinks, smoothies, popsicles and even fancy dinners served at home in the evening. (more…)
Also posted in Community, Events / Exhibitions, Helsinki Beyond Dreams, Participation, Unfinished City Tagged Helsinki 1 Comment
JUGAAD – PRACTICE OF MAKING DO
Jugaad canopy by Sanjeev Shankar. Photograph by Sundeep Bali
Recently, I have been collecting information about low-resource innovations in developing countries. During my stay in New York, I ran across a very insightful exhibition at the AIA center for architecture: “Jugaad Urbanism”. The show presents creative strategies of making do - solutions to survival with a lack of resources by people living in the big cities of India. (more…)