Katajanokka

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Housing cooperatives built around 1902 in the popular Jugendstil style.

The Finnish icebreaker fleet docked for the summer season on the northern side of Katajanokka

Katajanokka (in Finnish), Skatudden (in Swedish) is a district of Helsinki, Finland, with around 4000 inhabitants in 2005. The district is located adjacent to the immediate downtown area, though in the first major town plan for Helsinki from the mid-18th century, the area fell outside the fortifications planned to encircle the city. Originally, it was a headland of the Helsinki peninsula but is now technically an island, as a small canal was dug across the base of the headland in the 19th century.

Uspenski Cathedral

The south side of Katajanokka is dominated by a passenger harbour which is frequented by large cruiseferries traveling between Helsinki, Tallinn and Stockholm. The rest of the district comprises co-operative apartment buildings and several small parks. The western part of the residential area, known as the "Old Side" of Katajanokka, is an upscale neighborhood and a well-preserved example of early 20th century Art Nouveau architecture, though up until the mid-19th century - while the centre of Helsinki was being filled with stone buildings - the area was essentially still a wooden shanty town. The eastern part was originally a closed military area which was subsequently occupied by a shipyard. It was redeveloped in the 1970s and 1980s into a residential zone, often referred to as the "New Side" of Katajanokka. The new residential area is considered an exceptional example of modern town planning.

Landmarks of Katajanokka include the Russian Orthodox Cathedral, also known as Uspenski Cathedral (architect Alexey Gornostaev, 1868), the Merikasarmi complex of the Foreign Ministry (architect Carl Ludvig Engel, 1825) and the Finnish headquarters of Stora Enso (architect Alvar Aalto, 1962; the most controversial of Aalto's works).

The Katajanokka prison.

Another famous building in Katajanokka is the former district prison of Southern Finland. There has been interest in turning it into a hotel after the prison itself was relocated in 2002. However, the prison complex dates back to 1837, which imposes strict limits on redevelopment due to the often strict regime of protection for historically significant buildings that is in effect in Finland.

The local community organization is called Katajanokkaseura. The organization publishes an annual regional magazine, Katajanokan kaiku (Finnish for "The Echo of Katajanokka").

[edit] Literature

• Griffiths, Gareth (1997). The Polemical Aalto. The Enso-Gutzeit Building (1959-62), Datutop 19, Tampere. ISBN 951-722-789-2 (an account of the saga of Aalto's controversial building on Katajanokka.)
• Jaatinen, Carina & Lindh, Tommi & Lunkka, Hannu (1998). Helsingin kantakaupungin rakennuskulttuuri. Katajanokan kaupunginosan inventointi. Helsingin kaupunginmuseo. ISBN 951-718-174-4. (An examination of the architectural history of Katajanokka.)
• Kervanto Nevanlinna, Anja (2002). Kadonneen kaupungin jäljillä. Teollisuusyhteiskunnan muutoksia Helsingin historiallisessa ytimessä. ("Tracing the lost city. Industrial transformations in the historical heart of Helsinki. With summary and captions in English.") Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura. ISBN 951-746-307-3. (Takes a critical look at the 20th Century transformation of the Eteläsatama seafront in Helsinki, with an emphasis on Katajanokka.)
• Moorhouse, Jonathan & Carapetian, Michael & Ahtola-Moorhouse, Leena (1987). Helsinki Jugendstil 1895—1915. Otava Verlag. ISBN 951-1-08382-1. (Describes the architecture of Katajanokka, p. 198—228. Also available in Finnish as ISBN 951-1-09018-6.)
• Narinkka (1989). Helsinki City Museum. (A detailed exploration of the history of Katajanokka before the 20th Century. Written by Viljo Erkamo and Kerttuli Wessman. Includes an English summary, titled "Katajanokka's humble past. Old drawings and paintings: a documentary record of city ethnography".) ISSN 035-9106.
• Ollila, Kaija & Toppari, Kirsti (1975): Puhvelista Punatulkkuun. Helsingin vanhoja kortteleita. Sanoma Osakeyhtiö. ISBN 951-9134-69-7. (Information and historical anecdotes on the city blocks and buildings of Helsinki. Covers the entire "Old Side" of Katajanokka, among other districts.)

[edit] Articles in architectural journals

• Arkkitehti 1931. Frequently cited debate from the early 1930s regarding the state and the future of Katajanokka.
• Helander, Vilhelm & Pakkala, Pekka & Sundman, Mikael: Katajanokan kärjen asemakaavaluonnos. ("The draft plan for the 'tip of Katajanokka'") Arkkitehti 2/1975, p. 32 pp. Early description of the winning plan for the "New Side" by the architects involved.
• Pakkala, Pekka: Katajanokan vanhan asuntoalueen asemakaava ("The plan for the old residential area of Katajanokka"). Arkkitehti 4/1981, p. 42 pp. Detailed article on the preservation of the "Old Side".

[edit] External links

• Katajanokka home site
• Buildings of the "Old Side" of Katajanokka — Pictures of all the buildings of the "Old Side", with information on the architects and dates of erection of each building
• Etymology and pronunciation of Skatudden (in Swedish) — An article on the Swedish name of Katajanokka, published by the Research Institute for the Languages of Finland

Coordinates: 60°10′01″N, 24°58′06″E