Oodi Helsinki Central Library
Helsinki’s central library opened in 2018 for the centenary of Finland’s independence. The building has a billowing façade of spruce, and the top floor is a single bright book heaven beneath an undulating white ceiling. The library is built as the city’s living room.
Helsinki wanted to build a new central library opposite Parliament House, and an international competition was held in 2012–2013. The Finnish practice ALA Architects won. Construction began in 2015, and the library opened on 5 December 2018, the day before Finland’s Independence Day, as a gift to the country on its centenary.
The building has three floors of different character. The ground floor is open, with a café, cinema and events. The middle floor contains workshops, studios and workrooms with 3D printers and sewing machines. The top floor is a large, open library beneath an undulating ceiling, with a balcony facing the square and Parliament House. The façade is clad in Finnish spruce and bulges out like an arch. The structure relies on two long steel trusses spanning the ground floor.
In 2019 Oodi was named the world’s best new public library by the international library federation IFLA. It has become one of the most visited places in Helsinki. The library shows how libraries have changed from places for books into open meeting places for the whole city.