Under the scope of HUPMOBILE project the city of Turku is involved in restructuring its passenger railway connection to the port area. To find a comprehensive overall idea for the area as well as various development alternatives the city of Turku in cooperation with 
the Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA) and the Finnish Association of Landscape Architects (MARK) has organized Linnanniemi (Castle Town) idea competition in Spring 2020. 

The results of the Linnanniemi international idea competition were published in October 2020, after which ten successful competition entries were presented in a pop-up exhibition. The top three entries of the competition are now on display in the Turku Science Park Visitor Center Joki until 29th of January 2021.

Over the coming decades, the surroundings of Turku Castle and the port area will be facing major changes. Guidelines are currently being prepared for what Linnanniemi will look like in the future. The competition entries that were the most successful in the Linnanniemi idea competition will be utilized in the planning of the area.
 
The people of Turku gave their opinion on the successful entries of the Linnanniemi idea competition and shared their own vision of the future of the area online and in a pop-up exhibition held from 30th of October to 15th of November 2020. The goal of the exhibition and variety of complementing side events was to get the residents of Turku acquainted with Linnanniemi and to involve them in the development of the area. A report of the exhibition, side events and the public comments collected during the event has now been published as an online publication (available in finnish, turku.fi/linnanniemi-popup). The report will be used as background material in the zoning process.

Residents were interested in the location of the Museum of History and the Future, especially in relation to Forum Marinum, and the possible synergies between the museums in the area. In addition, new construction and the re-use and preservation of the old building stock, as well as traffic and mobility, green spaces, services and functionality in the area, also came to the fore. Several comments highlighted views on the atmosphere, perceptions and characteristics associated with the area. 

“The park around the castle is important. It’s good that the park extends to the riverbank and the truck rally between the castle and the riverbank ends. The area will be much nicer and more attractive in the future,”

states a comment submitted to the winning Kolme palaa competition entry. For the most part, the proposal by the Lithuanian-Finnish architects from After party and Sitowise agencies was considered successful and to provide good basis for further planning of the area. The proposal received some criticism concerning the placement of residential construction and the bridge over the River Aura.

 

 

People also called for public space and they would like the area to be a place for recreation and leisure. Connection to the sea and the river, the proximity of the archipelago, the historical strata and natural values were repeated in the comments as features that need to be cherished. The future of Linnanniemi was envisioned as an area that embodies the history and spirit of Turku and creates uniqueness for the city.

"It has been great to see how interested the people of Turku are in Linnanniemi and its future. You can tell by the comments that the residents are familiar with the competition entries and they want to take part in the planning of the area"

says project manager Mervi Lehto.

The top three entries of the idea competition are currently on display at the Visitor Center Joki. In addition to the winning trio, the exhibition includes evaluation minutes presenting all competition entries as well as the tentative traffic and mobility master plan for the Turku port area prepared within the HUPMOBILE project.

 

 

Text by Jenna Kaarela, project officer
Cover and in text image award-winning Kolme Palaa project by  Afterparty in collaboration with Santtu Hyvärinen and Sitowise