Temporary Kera – Keran väliaika
The Temporary Kera (Keran väliaika) project (2016-18) aimed to start a process of revitalising the former business and logistics area of Kera in Espoo, through cultural and innovative uses of unused spaces in the district.
Kera is a district under transformation between Leppävaara and Kauniainen in Espoo, with 16 mins rail connection to central Helsinki. In the future, the area will be developed towards a mixed-use sustainable neighbourhood. In the meantime, before the long-term plans are implemented, Temporary Kera created conditions for bottom-up-development together with local actors and utilising existing resources.
The project started in November 2016 with a kick-off workshop bringing together 50 key stakeholders and experts. In the workshop, we looked at concrete potentials of available spaces and potential models of temporary use and envisioned how the area could be revitalised. In May 2017, Spatial Pioneers (Tilapioneerit) course by University of Helsinki took over an empty warehouse with their Kerapia event. In September 2017, the same warehouse was filled with classical music and dance in an event organised by Our Festival as part of their “Breaking the Silence” tour. During the project, also workspaces for professional and non-professional artists and craftspeople were established in vacant office spaces and sports facilities created in empty warehouses.