Munkkivuori
Encyclopedia
Munkkivuori is a quarter of the Munkkiniemi
neighbourhood in Helsinki
. The buildings and the plan of site are typical of the late 1950s
. Most of the residential buildings in Munkkivuori are within a loop formed by Ulvilantie ring road. The automotive traffic to the residential buildings is routed along Ulvilantie whereas Raumantie no through road
terminating in the center of the Ulvilantie loop provides access to public services and limits the through-traffic in residential areas. A designed network of crushed stone walkways provides easy accessibility around Munkkivuori for cyclists, pedestrians and other non-automotive traffic.
Munkkivuoren ostoskeskus (Munkkivuori shopping center), the first shopping center in Finland, was built in 1959. The small shopping center, known as "Ostari" amongst the locals, is the focal point of Munkkivuori and is the home to some companies. Many everyday services are available at the viable shopping center. These services include two grocery stores, a post office, a cafeteria, a nearby church, a couple of barber shops and fast food restaurants, one larger restaurant, a pharmacy, a privately owned health center, ATM, various bank branches, a bookstore and an Alko
liquor store. There are three educational institutions in Munkkivuori; the Franco-Finnish school
, the Munkkivuoren Ala-Aste comprehensive school and a pre-school
with a kindergarten
. A youth center is located in the same building with the pre-school. Helsinki City Transport
buses number 14, 18, 52, 57 and 58 provide public traffic connections to Munkkivuori.
The Industrial zone of Pitäjänmäki
limits Munkkivuori geographically in the North where as the national road number 1
to Turku separates Munkkivuori from Vanha Munkkiniemi in the South. In the East, Huopalahdentie road draws a border between the neighbouring quarters of Niemenmäki and Etelä-Haaga. A footpath from Munkkiniemen puisto park to the mansion of Tali, excluding the mansion itself, lines the border of Munkkivuori in the West.
Tali outdoor walking area with its sports facilities such as tennis, squash, soccer and bowling centers forms roughly half of Munkkivuori. All of the sports centers have indoors facilities providing all-year access to these sports. Additionally, outdoor soccer, tennis and rugby fields exist for summertime use. The soccer fields occupy a large area of Munkkivuori and are among the biggest in Helsinki. Both sand and grass soccer fields are available. Apart from the sports facility buildings there are no buildings in the outdoor area. The Tali 18-hole golf course is partially in Munkkivuori although the majority of the golf course resides in Tali
quarter. The Tali allotment gardens
, the main horse racing track of Finland, Vermo
, and a couple of disc golf
courses are in the vicinity of Munkkivuori.
founded housing cooperative
s to build new houses. Munkkivuori had housing cooperatives for war veterans, nurses, teachers, foresters and civil servants among others which launched the construction of Munkkivuori residential area in the late 1950s. Architect Olavi Terho got the responsibility for the land use planning of the area then known as "Pohjois-Munkkiniemi" ("North Munkkiniemi"). The name "Munkkivuori" was adopted when the plan of the site was confirmed. The elevated bedrock of the area was the basis for the name that is adapted from Munkkiniemi of which Munkkivuori ("vuori" is Finnish for mountain) is part of. The etymology
of the name is analyzed in more detail in Munkkiniemi article.
Munkkivuori was built according to "forest city" philosophy that scatters the buildings sparsely within the plan of site
leaving a lot of space and forest among the houses. Other neighbourhoods built according the same philosophy include Herttoniemi
and Maunula
in Helsinki and Iso-Heikkilä in Turku
. The homogeneous communities that built the housing have since dwindled away but many long-term residents still live in Munkkivuori. It is not uncommon for the offspring of the first generation Munkkivuorineans to return to live in Munkkivuori after living elsewhere in between.
Olavi Terho's plan of site included a shopping center — something that was unheard of before. The concept introduced a new way of shopping in which families would concentrate their shopping in one place. Several entrepreneurs would trade in this place and the customers would use shopping carts to transport merchandise. Otto Wuorio Oy
was chosen as the developing company and professor Antti Pernaja and architect Nils Sandel were to design the shopping center. The CEO
of Otto Wuorio, Lauri Reunala, traveled to the United States to learn about shopping centers. At first, there were conflicting naming proposals for the shopping center. The initial name suggested was "Munkkivaaran ostoskeskus" and this name was even adopted by the local pharmacy for a while. Professor Kustaa Vilkuna, a linguist
, suggested a common name "Puhos" for all merchant communities
. In practice, the current name "Munkkivuoren ostoskeskus" became established simply after the name of the quarter.
A real estate company named Munkkivuoren Ostoskeskus Oy was established in 30 January 1959 for managing the shopping center properties. The shopping center opened in 3 December 1959, with attractions such as Fazer
cafeteria, Varuboden, HOK bar, make-up store Clou and various banks such as HOP, SYP, Torkkeli and KOP-bus
. PIVO traded daily consumer goods and introduced house-made convenience food
. In the sixties
, the shopping center was marketed with good traffic connections and parking space. The shopping center was first expanded and modernized in year 1964. Planning work for building a metropolitan railway system in Helsinki was intense at that time. A first draft of the system was issued in March 1963. In accordance with this draft the expansion of the shopping center included the construction of the first metro
station of Finland.
The plan to build a metro to Munkkivuori and a metro depot to Tali, however, was rejected after lengthy discussions as too extensive. Helsinki metro construction works finally commenced in 1971 but by that time the whole metro line running northbound from city center was abandoned and an eastbound line was to be built. Thus, ironically enough, the first metro station of Finland never saw a metro. The 1964 modernization of the shopping center, including Munkkivuori metro station construction works, was already completed when the northbound metro plans were scrapped. the station has been converted into a small business plaza where a handful of stand-alone stores operate. A short leg of the metro tunnel also remains under the shopping center as reminiscence.
The next modernization and renovation of the shopping center took place in 1994. An underground parking hall and an extension wing for S-Market supermarket were built. The shopping center courtyard was bulldozed to give room for the parking hall. The bulldozing ended the era of an pyramid shaped hamburger kiosk that was located in the middle of the courtyard. Also the easternmost building of the shopping center, where an R-Kioski
convenience store and a shoemaker traded, was demolished. The National Board of Antiquities analysed all shopping centers in Finland in year 2002. The board found the shopping center of Munkkivuori to be in the top of the first class in functionality as well as in cultural value. Especially, the so called pavilions
were classified as cultural heritage
and protected in the plan of site.
. At first, Munkkivuori as well as the neighboring quarters of Pitäjänmäki
and Munkkiniemi were part of the parish of Huopalahti
. The parish of Huopalahti was divided and the independent parish of Munkkiniemi, of which Munkkivuori was part of, was born in 1961. Two years later the church of Munkkivuori was completed in the next block west to the shopping center. The church was designed by Olavi Kantele and inaugurated
by Bishop Martti Simojoki in 22 December 1963. The bell tower with its three bells has been a prominent landmark in Munkkivuori ever since. Åke Hellman designed the mosaic
altarpiece
named "Fiat Voluntas Tua" ("Let Thy Will Be Done") in 1965. The 30-stop
pipe organ
manufactured by Kangasalan Urkutehtas was acquired in the same year.
As a natural continuum of the church, the parish of Munkkivuori became independent from the parish of Munkkiniemi in 1967. Mr. Eero Saarinen established the first post of the vicar of Munkkivuori. When he retired in 1991, Mrs. Silja Forsberg was elected as his successor.
Year 1997 saw a substantial renovation of the church hall and the parish house right next to the main church building. In 2008 the parish of Munkkivuori had nearly 5 000 members which made the percentage of parishioners one of the highest in Helsinki. Munkkivuori parish was annexed back to the neighbouring parish of Munkkiniemi 1 January 2011 making the total of number of Munkkiniemi parishioners . The quarters of Niemenmäki and Talinranta were part of the parish of Munkkivuori and thus also became annexed. The last person to hold the post of the vicar of Munkkivuori was Mr. Raimo Majlander who was elected in 2002 when Mrs. Forsberg retired.
Audi S3 Quattro car, a 32 year old CEO, was driving in the left lane when he approached the intersection that the girls were crossing. A stationary car was waiting to turn right, towards the shopping center, on the right lane. This car blocked the Audi driver's view on the pedestrian crossing leaving the driver unaware of the little girl walking behind the stationary car. As a result of the impact the girl was thrown 20 metres (66 ft) to the middle of the intersection and died regardless of the first aid given by the ambulance personnel. The coordinates of the accident scene are 60°12′18.71"N 24°52′49.66"E.
The speed limit of Huopalahdentie road was reduced from 50 km/h (31 mph) to 40 km/h (25 mph) two days after the incident. An idea to build a pedestrian under passage to Huopalahdentie road had been around quite a while but abandoned due to expected high construction costs, 1,2M€. The unfortunate events of 2002 actuated the construction project. The project was boosted by the fact that a similar accident took place on Huopalahdentie road almost four years earlier. In this accident, an eight year old girl was lethally run over by a bus. The bus driver admitted right away that he had disrespected the red light.
The 2002 accident increased public awareness of irresponsible driving and gave birth to Internet and newspaper discussion on loosened traffic discipline in Finland. The residents of the neighbourhood organized a demonstration by Huopalahdentie road and set off a nation-wide traffic campaign named "Pysähdy ajoissa - Stanna i tid" ("Stop in time"). The campaign was joined by Liikenneturva and Yleisradio and was awarded the best traffic safety act of the year. The pedestrian under passage from Niemenmäki
to the shopping center was completed in 2008. It eliminates the need to cross over the heavily trafficked Huopalahdentie road and thus increases road safety of pedestrians.
Soon after the tragedy, newspapers published news about the company the driver was working for. It turned out that the company was the importer and a reseller of illegal street racing movies called Getaway in Stockholm
and that one copy of the series was found from the glove compartment
of the Audi involved in the accident. In a later interview the Audi driver claimed that the videocassettes were for retail and that he himself did not own the copy found from the glove compartment. He was found guilty of manslaughter
and reckless driving
. The Court of Appeal concluded that he had failed to stop for a red light but the court could not prove that the driver had been speeding. The driver himself, however, claimed that he had been running an amber light although according to the eyewitnesses he was running a red light and speeding. The driver was sentenced to jail for a year and a half, and his driver's license was revoked until the end of August 2004. As a first-timer, he had to serve only half of the sentence i.e. nine months.
shopping center that was to be built in Leppävaara
, a short distance from Munkkivuori, was seen as a serious threat to Munkkivuori shopping center. The board concluded that it was essential to provide modern premises for two supermarket
s that would then in turn attract other services. A larger business area would result in the growth of the customer base
. New parking spaces would need to add to cope with this growth.
Helsinki City Planning Department ("Kaupunkisuunnitteluvirasto") funded an architectural research carried out by a consulting firm between August 8, 2006 and December 20, 2006. Munkkivuoren Ostoskeskus Oy and the representatives of the surrounding real estate companies participated in the study. The purpose of the study was to a find a mutual agreement between different visions on and interests in the enlargement.
The study concluded that the shopping center cannot be enlarged without extending the building site northwards and thus realigning Naantalintie. The shopping center site is bounded by Raumantie road in the South, by Huopalahdentie road in the East and by Naantalintie road in the North and the West. In February 2007, The Helsinki City Planning Department started another negotiations based on the findings of the previous study. The negotiations try to determine whether Naantalintie can be realigned or not. Since the shopping center is the first of its kind in Finland, it is considered to have architectural and historical value and is subject to architectural conservation
. This fact combined with the limited size of the building site may render the enlargement plans impossible. Munkkivuoren Ostoskeskus Oy has not agreed on the terms of the architectural conservation. However, the officials promoting the architectural conservation have the last word.
Nordic Construction Company
has planned a new five-story office building with a floor space of 2500 m² (26,910 sq ft) for 650 employees to near the intersection of national road number 1 and Huopalahdentie road at Ulvilantie 2a. The building and parking space for 233 cars were originally scheduled to be completed in 2011, but the late-2000s recession has postponed the construction.
Housing cooperative Ulvilantie 11b has published a plan of a site and a visualisation for a new apartment building to be built in the heart of Munkkivuori. The construction works are scheduled to start late 2011 and last for one year.
network to cover Munkkivuori. A new tram line number 5 from Kalasatama
to Munkkivuori via Kruununhaka
is brought up in the study. Alternatively the existing tram line number 4T could be rerouted to Munkkivuori. The tram would run on Huopalahdentie and Raumantie terminating near the Franco-Finnish school in both of these alternatives. Tram is the main means of public transport in Helsinki. Munkkivuori will become a more integral part of the city in contrast of being a suburb if the plan to extend the tram is to be carried out.
Munkkiniemi
Munkkiniemi is a neighbourhood in Helsinki. Subdivisions within the district are Vanha Munkkiniemi, Kuusisaari, Lehtisaari, Munkkivuori, Niemenmäki and Talinranta.The land in Munkkiniemi was from the 17th century a part of Munksnäs manor...
neighbourhood in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
. The buildings and the plan of site are typical of the late 1950s
1950s
The 1950s or The Fifties was the decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. The decade was the sixth decade of the 20th century...
. Most of the residential buildings in Munkkivuori are within a loop formed by Ulvilantie ring road. The automotive traffic to the residential buildings is routed along Ulvilantie whereas Raumantie no through road
Cul-de-sac
A cul-de-sac is a word of French origin referring to a dead end, close, no through road or court meaning dead-end street with only one inlet/outlet...
terminating in the center of the Ulvilantie loop provides access to public services and limits the through-traffic in residential areas. A designed network of crushed stone walkways provides easy accessibility around Munkkivuori for cyclists, pedestrians and other non-automotive traffic.
Munkkivuoren ostoskeskus (Munkkivuori shopping center), the first shopping center in Finland, was built in 1959. The small shopping center, known as "Ostari" amongst the locals, is the focal point of Munkkivuori and is the home to some companies. Many everyday services are available at the viable shopping center. These services include two grocery stores, a post office, a cafeteria, a nearby church, a couple of barber shops and fast food restaurants, one larger restaurant, a pharmacy, a privately owned health center, ATM, various bank branches, a bookstore and an Alko
Alko
Alko is the national alcoholic beverage retailing monopoly in Finland. It is the only store in the country which retails beer over 4.7% ABV, wine and spirits. Alcoholic beverages are also sold in licensed restaurants and bars but only for consumption on the premises...
liquor store. There are three educational institutions in Munkkivuori; the Franco-Finnish school
Lycée franco-finlandais d'Helsinki
Lycée franco-finladais d'Helsinki is a Franco-Finnish school in Helsinki, Finland founded by French Catherine Servé in 1947.It is run by the Finnish state since 1977 with a Finnish school system, the French state paying wages of 7-10 teachers...
, the Munkkivuoren Ala-Aste comprehensive school and a pre-school
Preschool education
Preschool education is the provision of learning to children before the commencement of statutory and obligatory education, usually between the ages of zero and three or five, depending on the jurisdiction....
with a kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
. A youth center is located in the same building with the pre-school. Helsinki City Transport
Helsinki City Transport
Helsinki City Transport or HKL is the official city-owned public transport company in Helsinki, Finland. It operates the Helsinki metro, Helsinki tram and ferry boat traffic...
buses number 14, 18, 52, 57 and 58 provide public traffic connections to Munkkivuori.
The Industrial zone of Pitäjänmäki
Pitäjänmäen teollisuusalue
Pitäjänmäen teollisuusalue is a western neighborhood of Helsinki, Finland. It is located in Pitäjänmäki district.The name means Pitäjänmäki industrial area in English. , Pitäjänmäen teollisuusalue has 2,415 inhabitants living in an area of 1.38 km2....
limits Munkkivuori geographically in the North where as the national road number 1
Finnish national road 1
The Finnish national road 1 is the main route between the major cities of Helsinki and Turku in southern Finland. It runs from Munkkiniemi in Helsinki to the VI District of Turku, and is part of the European route E18...
to Turku separates Munkkivuori from Vanha Munkkiniemi in the South. In the East, Huopalahdentie road draws a border between the neighbouring quarters of Niemenmäki and Etelä-Haaga. A footpath from Munkkiniemen puisto park to the mansion of Tali, excluding the mansion itself, lines the border of Munkkivuori in the West.
Tali outdoor walking area with its sports facilities such as tennis, squash, soccer and bowling centers forms roughly half of Munkkivuori. All of the sports centers have indoors facilities providing all-year access to these sports. Additionally, outdoor soccer, tennis and rugby fields exist for summertime use. The soccer fields occupy a large area of Munkkivuori and are among the biggest in Helsinki. Both sand and grass soccer fields are available. Apart from the sports facility buildings there are no buildings in the outdoor area. The Tali 18-hole golf course is partially in Munkkivuori although the majority of the golf course resides in Tali
Tali
-Places:* Tali, township, part of Kozhikode, Kerala* Tali, Finland, town in Finland* Tali, Helsinki, Finland* Tali, South Sudan, town in South Sudan* Tali, Estonia, village in Saarde Parish, Pärnu County, Estonia...
quarter. The Tali allotment gardens
Allotment (gardening)
An allotment garden, often called simply an allotment, is a plot of land made available for individual, non-professional gardening. Such plots are formed by subdividing a piece of land into a few or up to several hundreds of land parcels that are assigned to individuals or families...
, the main horse racing track of Finland, Vermo
Vermo
Vermo is the main harness racing track of Finland, opened in 1977. It is located in the Leppävaara district of Espoo, but is officially regarded as the racecourse of the neighbouring Helsinki. The length of the track is 1000 metres and width 24–26 metres....
, and a couple of disc golf
Disc golf
Disc golf is a disc game in which individual players throw a flying disc into a basket or at a target. According to the Professional Disc Golf Association, "The object of the game is to traverse a course from beginning to end in the fewest number of throws of the disc." Of the more than 3000...
courses are in the vicinity of Munkkivuori.
History
Finland was suffering from a severe housing shortage in the postwar era. As a measure to solve the housing shortage various professional bodies and civic groupsCivil society
Civil society is composed of the totality of many voluntary social relationships, civic and social organizations, and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society, as distinct from the force-backed structures of a state , the commercial institutions of the market, and private criminal...
founded housing cooperative
Housing cooperative
A housing cooperative is a legal entity—usually a corporation—that owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings. Each shareholder in the legal entity is granted the right to occupy one housing unit, sometimes subject to an occupancy agreement, which is similar to a lease. ...
s to build new houses. Munkkivuori had housing cooperatives for war veterans, nurses, teachers, foresters and civil servants among others which launched the construction of Munkkivuori residential area in the late 1950s. Architect Olavi Terho got the responsibility for the land use planning of the area then known as "Pohjois-Munkkiniemi" ("North Munkkiniemi"). The name "Munkkivuori" was adopted when the plan of the site was confirmed. The elevated bedrock of the area was the basis for the name that is adapted from Munkkiniemi of which Munkkivuori ("vuori" is Finnish for mountain) is part of. The etymology
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
of the name is analyzed in more detail in Munkkiniemi article.
Munkkivuori was built according to "forest city" philosophy that scatters the buildings sparsely within the plan of site
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
leaving a lot of space and forest among the houses. Other neighbourhoods built according the same philosophy include Herttoniemi
Herttoniemi
Herttoniemi is a neighbourhood and a suburb of Helsinki, the Finnish capital. It is located about 7 km east of the city centre and can be easily reached by metro in 10 minutes. It has an older northern suburb and a newer coastal suburb with ferry connections to the city centre...
and Maunula
Maunula
Maunula , Månsas is a northwestern neighborhood of Helsinki, Finland.For the 1952 Summer Olympics, it hosted part of the road cycling events.-Reference:* p. 554....
in Helsinki and Iso-Heikkilä in Turku
Turku
Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...
. The homogeneous communities that built the housing have since dwindled away but many long-term residents still live in Munkkivuori. It is not uncommon for the offspring of the first generation Munkkivuorineans to return to live in Munkkivuori after living elsewhere in between.
Shopping center
Olavi Terho's plan of site included a shopping center — something that was unheard of before. The concept introduced a new way of shopping in which families would concentrate their shopping in one place. Several entrepreneurs would trade in this place and the customers would use shopping carts to transport merchandise. Otto Wuorio Oy
Osakeyhtiö
Osakeyhtiö, literally a "stock company", is the Finnish equivalent of a limited company or Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung . It is abbreviated to Oy and is used either before or after the company's name, sometimes with the addition of the Finland-Swedish equivalent Ab...
was chosen as the developing company and professor Antti Pernaja and architect Nils Sandel were to design the shopping center. The CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of Otto Wuorio, Lauri Reunala, traveled to the United States to learn about shopping centers. At first, there were conflicting naming proposals for the shopping center. The initial name suggested was "Munkkivaaran ostoskeskus" and this name was even adopted by the local pharmacy for a while. Professor Kustaa Vilkuna, a linguist
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, suggested a common name "Puhos" for all merchant communities
Organizational communication
Organizational communication is a subfield of the larger discipline of communication studies. Organizational communication, as a field, is the consideration, analysis, and criticism of the role of communication in organizational contexts....
. In practice, the current name "Munkkivuoren ostoskeskus" became established simply after the name of the quarter.
A real estate company named Munkkivuoren Ostoskeskus Oy was established in 30 January 1959 for managing the shopping center properties. The shopping center opened in 3 December 1959, with attractions such as Fazer
Fazer
Fazer is one of the largest corporations in the Finnish food industry.The company was originally founded by Karl Fazer in 1891, as a "French-Russian conditory" in central Helsinki...
cafeteria, Varuboden, HOK bar, make-up store Clou and various banks such as HOP, SYP, Torkkeli and KOP-bus
Kansallis-Osake-Pankki
Kansallis-Osake-Pankki was a Finnish commercial bank operating from 1889 to 1995. It was created by the fennoman movement as a Finnish language alternative to the largely Swedish language bank, Suomen Yhdyspankki . The two banks were merged in 1995 to form the Merita Bank...
. PIVO traded daily consumer goods and introduced house-made convenience food
Convenience food
Convenience food, or tertiary processed food, is commercially prepared food designed for ease of consumption. Products designated as convenience foods are often prepared food stuffs that can be sold as hot, ready-to-eat dishes; as room-temperature, shelf-stable products; or as refrigerated or...
. In the sixties
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
, the shopping center was marketed with good traffic connections and parking space. The shopping center was first expanded and modernized in year 1964. Planning work for building a metropolitan railway system in Helsinki was intense at that time. A first draft of the system was issued in March 1963. In accordance with this draft the expansion of the shopping center included the construction of the first metro
Helsinki Metro
The Helsinki Metro , is the metro system in Helsinki, Finland. It is the World's most northern metro system, and currently the only one in Finland. The system was opened to the general public on 2 August 1982 after 27 years of planning...
station of Finland.
The plan to build a metro to Munkkivuori and a metro depot to Tali, however, was rejected after lengthy discussions as too extensive. Helsinki metro construction works finally commenced in 1971 but by that time the whole metro line running northbound from city center was abandoned and an eastbound line was to be built. Thus, ironically enough, the first metro station of Finland never saw a metro. The 1964 modernization of the shopping center, including Munkkivuori metro station construction works, was already completed when the northbound metro plans were scrapped. the station has been converted into a small business plaza where a handful of stand-alone stores operate. A short leg of the metro tunnel also remains under the shopping center as reminiscence.
The next modernization and renovation of the shopping center took place in 1994. An underground parking hall and an extension wing for S-Market supermarket were built. The shopping center courtyard was bulldozed to give room for the parking hall. The bulldozing ended the era of an pyramid shaped hamburger kiosk that was located in the middle of the courtyard. Also the easternmost building of the shopping center, where an R-Kioski
R-Kioski
R-Kioski is a chain of convenience stores owned by Rautakirja Oyj. Presently, there are 723 R-Kiosk shops across Finland. They sell a range of products, such as books, magazines, tobacco, ready meals, snacks, soft drinks and alcoholic drinks such as beer and cider, excluding wine and spirits...
convenience store and a shoemaker traded, was demolished. The National Board of Antiquities analysed all shopping centers in Finland in year 2002. The board found the shopping center of Munkkivuori to be in the top of the first class in functionality as well as in cultural value. Especially, the so called pavilions
Pavilion (structure)
In architecture a pavilion has two main meanings.-Free-standing structure:Pavilion may refer to a free-standing structure sited a short distance from a main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure. Large or small, there is usually a connection with relaxation and pleasure in...
were classified as cultural heritage
Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...
and protected in the plan of site.
Church and parish
Regional parish work commenced already during the construction phase of Munkkivuori suburb. The first parish premises were at a basement floor of housing cooperative Porintie 3. Regular divine services were carried out under the permission of the dioceseDiocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
. At first, Munkkivuori as well as the neighboring quarters of Pitäjänmäki
Pitäjänmäki
Pitäjänmäki is a district located on the westernmost district of Helsinki, Finland, near the border with Espoo. There are many IT and machine manufacturing companies in the area, especially around the Valimo railway station. Such companies include Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks, ABB, Fujitsu...
and Munkkiniemi were part of the parish of Huopalahti
Huopalahti
Huopalahti was a municipality during the years 1920–1945 in Uusimaa, Finland. The municipality was bilingual.Current areas of Munkkiniemi, Lauttasaari and parts of northern Pasila were parts of Huopalahti....
. The parish of Huopalahti was divided and the independent parish of Munkkiniemi, of which Munkkivuori was part of, was born in 1961. Two years later the church of Munkkivuori was completed in the next block west to the shopping center. The church was designed by Olavi Kantele and inaugurated
Inauguration
An inauguration is a formal ceremony to mark the beginning of a leader's term of office. An example is the ceremony in which the President of the United States officially takes the oath of office....
by Bishop Martti Simojoki in 22 December 1963. The bell tower with its three bells has been a prominent landmark in Munkkivuori ever since. Åke Hellman designed the mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
altarpiece
Altarpiece
An altarpiece is a picture or relief representing a religious subject and suspended in a frame behind the altar of a church. The altarpiece is often made up of two or more separate panels created using a technique known as panel painting. It is then called a diptych, triptych or polyptych for two,...
named "Fiat Voluntas Tua" ("Let Thy Will Be Done") in 1965. The 30-stop
Organ stop
An organ stop is a component of a pipe organ that admits pressurized air to a set of organ pipes. Its name comes from the fact that stops can be used selectively by the organist; some can be "on" , while others can be "off" .The term can also refer...
pipe organ
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
manufactured by Kangasalan Urkutehtas was acquired in the same year.
As a natural continuum of the church, the parish of Munkkivuori became independent from the parish of Munkkiniemi in 1967. Mr. Eero Saarinen established the first post of the vicar of Munkkivuori. When he retired in 1991, Mrs. Silja Forsberg was elected as his successor.
Year 1997 saw a substantial renovation of the church hall and the parish house right next to the main church building. In 2008 the parish of Munkkivuori had nearly 5 000 members which made the percentage of parishioners one of the highest in Helsinki. Munkkivuori parish was annexed back to the neighbouring parish of Munkkiniemi 1 January 2011 making the total of number of Munkkiniemi parishioners . The quarters of Niemenmäki and Talinranta were part of the parish of Munkkivuori and thus also became annexed. The last person to hold the post of the vicar of Munkkivuori was Mr. Raimo Majlander who was elected in 2002 when Mrs. Forsberg retired.
Huopalahdentie accident
On a clear summer day in 13 August 2002, a nine year old girl crossing Huopalahdentie road in a pedestrian crossing was run over by a car and killed. The girl and her seven-year-old friend were reportedly on their way from a bookstore in the shopping center. They had been shopping for school equipment for the next day that was to be the first school day of the semester. A male driver of a black tunedCar tuning
Car tuning is both an industry and a hobby, in which an automobile is modified in order to improve its performance, handling and appearance. As most vehicles leave the factory set up for average driver expectations and average conditions, tuning has become a way to personalize the characteristics...
Audi S3 Quattro car, a 32 year old CEO, was driving in the left lane when he approached the intersection that the girls were crossing. A stationary car was waiting to turn right, towards the shopping center, on the right lane. This car blocked the Audi driver's view on the pedestrian crossing leaving the driver unaware of the little girl walking behind the stationary car. As a result of the impact the girl was thrown 20 metres (66 ft) to the middle of the intersection and died regardless of the first aid given by the ambulance personnel. The coordinates of the accident scene are 60°12′18.71"N 24°52′49.66"E.
The speed limit of Huopalahdentie road was reduced from 50 km/h (31 mph) to 40 km/h (25 mph) two days after the incident. An idea to build a pedestrian under passage to Huopalahdentie road had been around quite a while but abandoned due to expected high construction costs, 1,2M€. The unfortunate events of 2002 actuated the construction project. The project was boosted by the fact that a similar accident took place on Huopalahdentie road almost four years earlier. In this accident, an eight year old girl was lethally run over by a bus. The bus driver admitted right away that he had disrespected the red light.
The 2002 accident increased public awareness of irresponsible driving and gave birth to Internet and newspaper discussion on loosened traffic discipline in Finland. The residents of the neighbourhood organized a demonstration by Huopalahdentie road and set off a nation-wide traffic campaign named "Pysähdy ajoissa - Stanna i tid" ("Stop in time"). The campaign was joined by Liikenneturva and Yleisradio and was awarded the best traffic safety act of the year. The pedestrian under passage from Niemenmäki
Niemenmäki
Niemenmäki is a quarter of the Munkkiniemi neighbourhood in Helsinki. Niemenmäki was constructed in the early sixties. The nearby Shopping center provides everyday services to Niemenmäki inhabitants. Huopalahdentie road separates Niemenmäki from Munkkivuori in the West and Lapinmäentie road from...
to the shopping center was completed in 2008. It eliminates the need to cross over the heavily trafficked Huopalahdentie road and thus increases road safety of pedestrians.
Soon after the tragedy, newspapers published news about the company the driver was working for. It turned out that the company was the importer and a reseller of illegal street racing movies called Getaway in Stockholm
Getaway in Stockholm
Getaway in Stockholm is a Swedish film series about illegal street racing filmed using mainly car mounted cameras along with some cameramen alongside the route. The videos are all shot in the streets of Stockholm, Sweden and have developed a worldwide underground cult reputation in the street...
and that one copy of the series was found from the glove compartment
Glove compartment
A glove compartment or glovebox, also known as a little cupboard, is a compartment built into the dashboard, located over the front-seat passenger's footwell in an automobile, often used for miscellaneous storage. The name derives from the original purpose of the compartment, to store gloves...
of the Audi involved in the accident. In a later interview the Audi driver claimed that the videocassettes were for retail and that he himself did not own the copy found from the glove compartment. He was found guilty of manslaughter
Manslaughter
Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
and reckless driving
Reckless driving
Reckless driving is a major moving traffic violation. As a legal term, it is used within the United States. This offence has been abolished in the United Kingdom and replaced...
. The Court of Appeal concluded that he had failed to stop for a red light but the court could not prove that the driver had been speeding. The driver himself, however, claimed that he had been running an amber light although according to the eyewitnesses he was running a red light and speeding. The driver was sentenced to jail for a year and a half, and his driver's license was revoked until the end of August 2004. As a first-timer, he had to serve only half of the sentence i.e. nine months.
Future
A reticent period in the history of the shopping center followed the 1994 modernization. In 2001–02, the board of Munkkivuoren Ostoskeskus Oy started to discuss how to cope with future challenges. Many of the ageing shopping centers around Finland had seen a downturn as they failed to develop a strategy to compete with modern shopping centers. In particular, the SelloSello
Sello is a shopping mall in the Leppävaara district of Espoo, Finland. The mall contains more than 170 shops and services including a concert hall and a library....
shopping center that was to be built in Leppävaara
Leppävaara
Leppävaara or Alberga is a district of Espoo, a city in Finland. A major traffic hub in the Greater Helsinki region, the Rantarata rail line and Kehä I, the busiest road in Finland, cross in Leppävaara. The Sello Shopping Centre is also located there...
, a short distance from Munkkivuori, was seen as a serious threat to Munkkivuori shopping center. The board concluded that it was essential to provide modern premises for two supermarket
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
s that would then in turn attract other services. A larger business area would result in the growth of the customer base
Customer base
The customer base is the group of customers and/or consumers that a business serves. In the most situations, a large part of this group is made up of repeat customers with a high ratio of purchase over time. These customers are the main source of consumer spending...
. New parking spaces would need to add to cope with this growth.
Helsinki City Planning Department ("Kaupunkisuunnitteluvirasto") funded an architectural research carried out by a consulting firm between August 8, 2006 and December 20, 2006. Munkkivuoren Ostoskeskus Oy and the representatives of the surrounding real estate companies participated in the study. The purpose of the study was to a find a mutual agreement between different visions on and interests in the enlargement.
The study concluded that the shopping center cannot be enlarged without extending the building site northwards and thus realigning Naantalintie. The shopping center site is bounded by Raumantie road in the South, by Huopalahdentie road in the East and by Naantalintie road in the North and the West. In February 2007, The Helsinki City Planning Department started another negotiations based on the findings of the previous study. The negotiations try to determine whether Naantalintie can be realigned or not. Since the shopping center is the first of its kind in Finland, it is considered to have architectural and historical value and is subject to architectural conservation
Architectural conservation
Architectural conservation describes the process through which the material, historical, and design integrity of mankind's built heritage are prolonged through carefully planned interventions. The individual engaged in this pursuit is known as an architectural conservator...
. This fact combined with the limited size of the building site may render the enlargement plans impossible. Munkkivuoren Ostoskeskus Oy has not agreed on the terms of the architectural conservation. However, the officials promoting the architectural conservation have the last word.
Nordic Construction Company
Nordic Construction Company
NCC AB is a Swedish construction company, the second largest in the Nordic region with annual revenues of 49 billion Swedish krona and about 17,000 employees.-History:...
has planned a new five-story office building with a floor space of 2500 m² (26,910 sq ft) for 650 employees to near the intersection of national road number 1 and Huopalahdentie road at Ulvilantie 2a. The building and parking space for 233 cars were originally scheduled to be completed in 2011, but the late-2000s recession has postponed the construction.
Housing cooperative Ulvilantie 11b has published a plan of a site and a visualisation for a new apartment building to be built in the heart of Munkkivuori. The construction works are scheduled to start late 2011 and last for one year.
Tram extension
The shopping center enlargement plans are supported by Helsinki City Planning Department's proposals to improve the reachability of Munkkivuori by public transportation. These proposals go by the name "Ratikka 2015" ("Tram 2015") study and include expanding the tramHelsinki tram
The Helsinki tram network forms part of the Helsinki public transport system organised by Helsinki Regional Transport Authority and operated by Helsinki City Transport in the Finnish capital city of Helsinki. The trams are the main means of transport in the city centre. 56.6 million trips were made...
network to cover Munkkivuori. A new tram line number 5 from Kalasatama
Sörnäinen
Sörnäinen is a neighbourhood in the city of Helsinki, Finland.Sörnäinen is located a little more than one kilometre north from the coastal centre of Helsinki, near the district of Hakaniemi. The east side of Sörnäinen borders the sea....
to Munkkivuori via Kruununhaka
Kruununhaka
Kruununhaka is a neighbourhood of Helsinki, the capital of Finland.Kruununhaka became the area next to the harbour and the center, when Helsinki was moved from the earlier location in the mid-1660s...
is brought up in the study. Alternatively the existing tram line number 4T could be rerouted to Munkkivuori. The tram would run on Huopalahdentie and Raumantie terminating near the Franco-Finnish school in both of these alternatives. Tram is the main means of public transport in Helsinki. Munkkivuori will become a more integral part of the city in contrast of being a suburb if the plan to extend the tram is to be carried out.
External links
- Munkkivuori.com
- Munkkiniemen seurakunta (The parish of Munkkiniemi)
- Päiväkoti Munkkivuori (The kindergarten of Munkkivuori)
- Munkkivuoren ala-asteen koulu (The comprehensive school of Munkkivuori)
- Helsingin ranskalais-suomalainen koulu (The Franco-Finnish school of Helsinki)
- Munkkiniemen rakennusinventointi (Construction investments of Munkkivuori)
- Meeting invitation to change the Huopalahdentie-road plan of site
- Report on building the Huopalahdentie-road under passage (Peter Henny / The Public Works Department)
- The Huopalahdentie-road under passage plan of site (Jouni Laakko / The Public Works Department)