Mikontalo is a large student housing complex in Hervanta,

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. Its exact address is Insinöörinkatu 60, 33720 Tampere, Finland. With affordable rents, easy availability, and location near the Hervanta campus of

Tampere University , image_name = , motto = ''Human Potential Unlimited'' , established = 1925; , type = Public , rector = Mari Walls , academic_staff = 4,200 (2021) , students = 21,500 (2021) , ...

, it is a popular dwelling for first year students and exchange students. Mikontalo was built during the period 1978–1980. Representing

brutalism Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...

, it consists of 4 blocks with 12 floors where 767 dwellings are situated. Mikontalo offers for its inhabitants saunas (two per building), a free gym, public lounge with a TV-set, Nintendo Wii, Soundsystem, board games, coffee machine and microwave; laundry room (5 washing and 2 drying machines), cable TV, and connection to the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

. The building went through major renovations from Summer 2007 until Summer 2009. During the renovation juliet balconies were added to some of the apartments. Also the façade panels were painted with

bluish grey Livid is a medium bluish-gray color. This color name comes from the Latin color term ''lividus'' meaning "'a dull leaden-blue color', and also used to describe the color of contused flesh, leading to the English expression 'black and blue'". ...

color, replacing red, orange and yellow colors.

Mikontalo Lights

In early December 2007, the D block of Mikontalo, while undergoing the reconstruction, was the scene of the Mikontalolights project. The object of Mikontalolights project was to create the world's physically largest colored graphics platform by using the

window A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent materia ...

s of Mikontalo's D block as light

pixel In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device. In most digital display devices, pixels are the smal ...

s. The platform was used for playing Tetris and other games and present demos created by the students of Tampere University of Technology. The project climaxed on December 4 when the new lights of the building were lit. The goal was to gain global visibility for Tampere University of Technology and the rich student culture of city of Tampere. Mikontalolights was a part of the 42nd jubilee year of the Student Union of Tampere University of Technology. Mikontalolights was fully carried out by students who were willing to give their work contribution besides their studies. TOAS and the building contractor of Mikontalo Rakennustoimisto Palmberg Oy made it possible to accomplish Mikontalolights by providing Mikontalo as a platform for the project.

References

External links

Mikontalo page on TOAS
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Mikontalo on Google 3D Warehouse
{{coord, 61, 26, 47.40, N, 023, 51, 10.80, E, scale:30000_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Tampere Student housing