Autotalo

Last updated
Autotalo in May 2017. Autotalo 2017.jpg
Autotalo in May 2017.
The northern half of the Autotalo block. On the left is the Kampintorni building, on the right is the former head office of the Pohja insurance company. Kampintorni Helsinki.JPG
The northern half of the Autotalo block. On the left is the Kampintorni building, on the right is the former head office of the Pohja insurance company.
A view of Fredrikinkatu at Autotalo. On the right are the Kampintorni and Autotalo buildings, on the left is the Tennispalatsi movie theatre and cultural centre. Fredrikinkatu Helsinki.jpg
A view of Fredrikinkatu at Autotalo. On the right are the Kampintorni and Autotalo buildings, on the left is the Tennispalatsi movie theatre and cultural centre.

Autotalo (Finnish for "car house") is a business building in Kamppi, Helsinki, Finland, built in 1958. It is located near the Kamppi metro station in a lot bordered by the streets of Salomonkatu to the south, Fredrikinkatu to the east and Runeberginkatu to the west. The address of the building is Salomonkatu 17. The Autotalo building consists of two 12-floor towers, and it comprises the southern half of its city block. The name "Autotalo" is sometimes used to refer to the entire block, also consisting of the two separate high-rise buildings at the northern edge of the block, built at the same time as the Autotalo building.

Contents

History

Before the construction of the Autotalo building, its site hosted a group of barracks built in the 19th century, originally forming the westernmost part of the garrison stationed at the Turku barracks. [1] After Finland became independent the lot had been transferred to the Finnish state. The company Korpivaara & Halla had plans already during World War II to purchase the lot in order to construct a new business building, but the plan was only put to action in the late 1950s. [2]

The building was commissioned by the company Helsingin Autotalo Oy, which was founded by the car import company Korpivaara & Halla Oy. The building was designed by architects Veli Valorinta and Eino Tuompo. [3] The building originally housed a car dealership business and a filling station [3] and an underground parking garage for 300 cars. [2] The tower hosted offices, including the office of the advertising agency Taucher and the office of the magazine Apu until it moved to Herttoniemi. [4] In the 1960s and the 1970s the building hosted the show restaurant Lido. [5]

Architecture

The building has 12 floors above the ground and three floors beneath it, with a total volume of almost 200,000 m3 (260,000 cu yd). [3] Of the underground floors, only the two lower ones reach to the edge of the streets, forming a sort of pedestal supporting the two tower structures. The height of the towers is 42.4 metres (139 ft). [6] [7] The building draws architectural inspiration from the Lever House in New York City, although the towers in Autotalo are shorter; the towers in the Lever House have 24 floors. [2]

The building has undergone extensive repairs, completed in autumn 2014. [8]

The Autotalo block and its other buildings

The name Autotalo originally only referred to the business building on the southern half of the block with its two towers, but nowadays the entire block is referred to as Autotalo or the Autotalo block. The northern part of the block hosts two business buildings built at the same time with their towers and short pedestal-like parts. The western building, located at the intersection between Runeberginkatu and Eteläinen Rautatienkatu, was designed by Armas Lehtinen, and it originally served as the office of the Pohja insurance company. [9] The intersection between Fredrikinkatu and Eteläinen Rautatienkatu hosts the Kampintorni building built in 1962. [10] The block hosts four towers in total. The buildings have facades of different materials. The towers of the Autotalo building proper have metal facades, whereas the that of the Pohja insurance company tower is made of yellow-brown stone, and that of the Kampintorni tower is made of light marble. [11]

Current use

Despite its name, the Autotalo building no longer hosts a car dealership business. The ground floor hosts the customer service office of Kela, a K-Market grocery store and a McDonald's restaurant. As of 2018, the floors above the ground floor have hosted an office of the aTalent recruiting company [12] and Cision. [13]

Both the building previously hosting the Pohja insurance company (Runeberginkatu 5) and the Kampintorni building (Fredrikinkatu 48) now host offices of the insurance and investment company LähiTapiola. [14] The Kampintorni building also hosts an Elixia health club. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helsinki Central Station</span> Major railway terminus in Finland

Helsinki Central Station (HEC) is the main station for commuter rail and long-distance trains departing from Helsinki, Finland. About 200,000 people "pass through the station" every day, half of whom are train passengers. The station serves as the terminus for all trains in the Helsinki commuter rail network, as well as for all Helsinki-bound long-distance trains in Finland. The Rautatientori metro station is located in the same building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rufino Pacific Tower</span> Office in Makati, Philippines

Rufino Pacific Tower or more commonly known as Rufino Tower or Rufino Plaza is an office skyscraper and is one of the tallest buildings in the Philippines and tallest buildings in Metro Manila. It remains as the tallest steel-framed building in the country. It has a ground to architectural top height of 161 metres (528 ft), one of three ways of determining building heights according to Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Counting its eight-storey radio tower, the building has a total height of 200 metres (660 ft). It has a total of 41 stories above ground level, including a 10 storey podium which is actually the original building, the old V.A. Rufino Building, and was modified to be the podium of the new tower. It is one of the few skyscrapers that utilizes car elevators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leppävaara</span> District of Espoo in Uusimaa, Finland

Leppävaara is a district of Espoo, a city in Finland. The Rantarata rail line and the Ring Road I, the busiest road in Finland, cross in Leppävaara, thus making it a major traffic hub in the Greater Helsinki region. The Sello Shopping Centre is also located in Leppävaara.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">YIT</span>

YIT Oyj is the largest Finnish and a significant North European construction company. YIT is headquartered in Helsinki and its stock is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Oy. YIT develops and builds apartments, business premises and entire areas. YIT is also specialised in demanding infrastructure construction and paving. YIT operates in 11 countries: Finland, Russia, Scandinavia, the Baltic States, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland.

The AIA Tower, formerly the Philamlife Tower, is an office skyscraper located in Makati, Philippines. It is owned and developed by Philam Properties Corporation, the real estate arm of the Philippine American Life and General Insurance Company. Standing at 200 meters (660 ft), it is currently the 7th-tallest building in Makati, and is the 14th-tallest building in the country and Metro Manila as well. The building has 48 floors above ground, and 5 basement levels for parking. It is also the current headquarters of AIA Philippines since 2023, which was renamed to AIA Tower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Munkkivuori</span> Helsinki Subdivision in Uusimaa, Finland

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.

RCBC Plaza is an office skyscraper complex located in Makati, Philippines. It is home to the offices of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) and is composed of two buildings: the taller RCBC Plaza Yuchengco Tower and the smaller RCBC Plaza Tower 2. The taller tower stands at 192 meters (630 ft) from the ground to its architectural top, and is currently the 8th tallest complete building in Makati, and is the 16th-tallest building in the Philippines, while the shorter tower stands at 170 meters (560 ft). At the time of its completion, the complex, as a whole, was considered by its developers to be the largest and most modern office development in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bulevardi</span> Street in Helsinki, Finland

Bulevardi is a boulevard in Helsinki, Finland. It starts at Erottaja and ends at Hietalahdentori. The majority of the boulevard is located in the western part of the Kamppi neighborhood and a small part of Punavuori. Restaurants, cafes, and art galleries line the street. The Alexander Theatre and Sinebrychoff Museum of Art are located on Bulevardi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asemapäällikönhovi</span>

The Asemapäällikönhovi building is a mixed-use complex located at Asemapäällikönkatu 3, in the Eastern Pasila (Itä-Pasila) area of the district of Pasila in Helsinki, Finland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DTM (nightclub)</span> Gay nightclub in Helsinki, Finland

DTM is an LGBT nightclub in Helsinki, Finland. Founded in 1992, it was once the largest gay club in Northern Europe. The venue was initially situated in Helsinki's Kamppi neighborhood, having since relocated twice: first, to Iso Roobertinkatu in Punavuori in 2003, and second, to Mannerheimintie in Kluuvi in 2012. Popular with gay men, DTM also caters to a straight and lesbian customer base. The club's playlists contain primarily pop songs, dance music, techno and Finnish hits, with live entertainment often taking the form of drag shows. Through an agreement with UK-based promoter Klub Kids, DTM hosted visiting performers from RuPaul's Drag Race from January 2019 to early 2020, when the Mannerheimintie venue closed.

<span title="Finnish-language text"><span lang="fi" style="font-style: normal;">Keskuskatu</span></span> Pedestrian street in Helsinki, Finland

Keskuskatu, literally "Central Street", is a two block-long pedestrian street in the centrally-located Kluuvi neighborhood of Helsinki, Finland. Along the street are located : the Stockmann department store, the Rautatalo building, Domus Litonii, the World Trade Center and the Citycenter Mall, nicknamed "Makkaratalo". Keskuskatu begins at Pohjoisesplanadi, across from the Swedish Theatre, and ends when it meets Kaivokatu, across from Helsinki Central Station. It is intersected just south of its midpoint by Aleksanterinkatu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanomatalo</span> Building in Helsinki, Finland

Sanomatalo is a commercial and office building in central Helsinki, Finland, to the north of Postitalo and the Helsinki Central railway station and to the south of the Helsinki Music Centre. It has twelve floors of which three are underground. The building was designed by professor Jan Söderlund and architect Antti-Matti Siikala and it was completed in 1999. It was the first "glassy" building in Helsinki, and environmentalists protested against the glass walls because they might cause bird deaths. There have also been protests against the building because it had two additional floors built contrary to the zoning plan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turku barracks</span>

The Turku barracks was a barracks building for the military of Russia built in 1833 in Kamppi, Helsinki, Finland, along the street Läntinen Henrikinkatu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maamerkki</span> High-rise building in Helsinki, Finland

Maamerkki is a high-rise building on Kauppakartanonkatu street near the Lyypekinaukio square in Itäkeskus in the Vartiokylä district of Helsinki, Finland. The building is 82 metres high and has 19 floors and has a viewing terrace at the top. The building was completed in 1987 and was designed by architect Erkki Kairamo. The building currently has over 50 apartments and several businesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mikonkatu</span> Street in Helsinki, Finland

Mikonkatu is a street in central Helsinki, Finland, leading north from the Esplanadi Park to the Kaisaniemi Park, mostly converted into a pedestrian street in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leppävaara tower</span> High-rise building in Espoo, Finland

The Leppävaara tower is a high-rise building in Leppävaara, Espoo, Finland, located at Valurinkuja 2. The building is located right next to the Leppävaara railway station and the Sello shopping centre. The building is 68 metres tall and has 21 floors. It is the third highest residential building in Espoo after Niittyhuippu and Meritorni.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dixi (building)</span> Retail building in Vantaa, Finland

Dixi is a combined office, shopping and transport centre in Tikkurila, Vantaa, Finland, in connection to the Tikkurila railway station. Dixi is located to the west of the railway track, to the north of the old station building. The shopping centre was opened in 2015 and was expanded with a 100-metre-long (330 ft) expansion in 2017, with an upcoming final phase of a further 6,000 m2 (65,000 sq ft) of office space to its southern part on Ratatie.

Terveystalo is a Finnish private healthcare company. Terveystalo provides healthcare, work healthcare and hospital care services for private persons, corporations, insurance companies and the public sector in about 100 localities with about 180 locations all over Finland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LähiTapiola</span>

LähiTapiola is a Finnish finance group company providing insurance services, formed by the fusion of the Lähivakuutus and Tapiola companies. LähiTapiola is a group company owned by its customers, serving private, farm, entrepreneur, corporate and community clients. The company's products and services include damage, life and retirement insurance as well as investment and savings services. Services for corporate clients include services related to risk management and staff wellbeing. In 2019 the company had a business result of 273.1 million euro. In 2020 the company had almost 1.6 million owner customers and it was the largest company in Finland to provide traffic insurance, the second largest to provide damage insurance and the fourth largest to provide life insurance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Itämerentorni</span> Office tower in Helsinki, Finland

Itämerentorni is a high-rise office building located in the district of Ruoholahti in Helsinki, Finland. It is part of the Itämerentorni complex which also includes a lower, curved building at the foot of the tower. The building serves as an office for SITRA and PricewaterhouseCoopers. The building is located near the Länsiväylä highway at the Itämerentori square. The building is 66 metres tall and has 18 floors. The building was completed in 2000 and was designed by architect Pekka Helin. In 2000 the building was awarded the steel building of the year prize.

References

  1. ↑ Alho, Asmo; Rauanheimo, Uljas: "Kamppi ja Lapinlahti", Helsinki ennen meitä, Otava 1962, p. 152.
  2. 1 2 3 Nevanlinna, Anja Kervanto: Helsingin historia vuodesta 1945. 4. osa: Voimat jotka rakensivat Helsinkiä 1945-2010. Otava, 2012. ISBN   978-951-1-26836-9.
  3. 1 2 3 Menestystarinoita vuodesta 1958, kampinautotalokortteli.fi. Accessed on 6 September 2014.
  4. ↑ "Valokuvataiteenmuseo". Archived from the original on 2016-06-05. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
  5. ↑ Verkkola, Tuija: Helsingin huvisyksy 2: Meitä ei hemmotella liian suurella valinnanvaralla. (Esittelyssä ohjelmaravintolat Adlon, Lido ja Espilä.), Helsingin Sanomat 21 September 1969.
  6. ↑ Fredrinkinkatu 46 [usurped] , Emporis. Accessed on 6 September 2014.
  7. ↑ Runeberginkatu 3 [usurped] , Emporis. Accessed on 6 September 2014.
  8. ↑ Autotalokortteli, brochure, jll.fi, p. 6. Accessed on 6 September 2014.
  9. ↑ Karjanoja, Matti: Rinnastuksia Signe Branderin kuviin Helsingistä. Tammi, 1973. ISBN   951-30-5802-6.
  10. ↑ Fredrikinkatu 48 [usurped] , Emporis. Accessed on 6 September 2014.
  11. ↑ Saneerausmenetelmänä eriytetty julkisivurakenne: Kampintornin marmorijulkisivu vaihdettiin hiottuun valkobetoniin, betoni.com. Accessed on 6 September 2014.
  12. ↑ aTalent Recruiting Oy, Asiakastieto Oy. Accessed on 26 October 2018.
  13. ↑ Yritys: Yhteydenotto, Cision. Accessed on 26 October 2018.
  14. ↑ Illuminated advertisements on the walls of the building
  15. ↑ ELIXIA Kamppi, Elixia. Accessed on 26 October 2018.

60°10′N24°56′E / 60.167°N 24.933°E / 60.167; 24.933

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.