Vallila () is a
neighbourhood
A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural are ...
in
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
, the capital of
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 ...
.
Vallila is a central-northern neighbourhood, bordered by
Pasila
Pasila (; sv, Böle, ) is a part of Helsinki, Finland, that is both a central-northern neighbourhood and district, bordering the areas of Alppila to the south, the Central Park ( Keskuspuisto) to the west, and Vallila to the east.
Pasila is ...
to the west and
Alppiharju
Alppiharju ( sv, Åshöjden) is a district of approximately 12,000 inhabitants in the eastern part of the Central major district of Helsinki, Finland. It consists of sub-districts Alppila and Harju, and is bordered by Kallio in the south, Taka- ...
to the south. Like Kallio, Vallila is mostly residential and has a reputation of being a working-class neighbourhood. In the past two decades people from artistic professions have found the area. Vallila though still retains its roots from 1910s to 1980s by being one of the rare neighbourhoods which still has an industrial area and abundant amount of workshop businesses.
Because of gentrification Vallila is nowadays considered a trendy area in Helsinki (like
Kallio) among young adults and housing is expensive, particularly in Puu-Vallila. Several major companies, such as
S Group
The S Group ( fi, S-ryhmä, sv, S-gruppen) is a Finnish retailing cooperative organisation with its head office in Helsinki. Founded in 1904, it consists of 20 regional cooperatives operating all around Finland in addition to SOK, ''Suomen Osu ...
,
Telia Finland,
OP Financial Group
OP Financial Group is one of the largest financial companies in Finland. It consists of 180 cooperative banks and their central organization. “OP” stands for “osuuspankki” in Finnish, literally meaning “cooperative bank”. The financi ...
and
Nordea
Nordea Bank Abp, commonly referred to as Nordea, is a European financial services group operating in northern Europe and based in Helsinki, Finland. The name is a blend of the words "Nordic" and "idea". The bank is the result of the successive m ...
, have their headquarters in Vallila.
Vallila is famous for its many old
wood
Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...
en houses dating back to the 1900s–1920s, which are spread over many blocks. Many buildings by the main streets are fine examples of
Nordic Classicism
Nordic Classicism was a style of architecture that briefly blossomed in the Nordic countries ( Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland) between 1910 and 1930.
Until a resurgence of interest for the period during the 1980s (marked by several scholarl ...
from the 1920s–1930s. It is located closest to the city center of all the wooden-house residential areas in Helsinki. This area is called Puu-Vallila (Wooden Vallila). Puu-Vallila was built 1910, while the rest of Vallila was built in the 1920s and 1930s. Before this Vallila was a villa area for wealthy people living in Helsinki centre.
Perhaps the most famous scene in Vallila is the small flea market square featured in
Aki Kaurismäki's film ''
The Man Without a Past
''The Man Without a Past'' ( fi, Mies vailla menneisyyttä) is a 2002 Finnish comedy-drama film produced, written, and directed by Aki Kaurismäki. Starring Markku Peltola, Kati Outinen and Juhani Niemelä, it is the second installment in Kauri ...
''.
Ville Valo
Ville Hermanni Valo (; born 22 November 1976) is a Finnish singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the gothic rock band HIM.
Born and raised in Helsinki to a Hungarian mother and Finnish father, Valo began h ...
, lead singer for the Finnish band
HIM, was born in Vallila.
Vallila is also the name of a basic city administrative district. It includes both Vallila and
Hermanni neighbourhoods and has 16,851 inhabitants. Vallila itself has 10,462 inhabitants (31.12.2020).
References
External links
File:Saint Paul Church over Sammatintie in Vallila, Helsinki, Finland, 2021 July.jpg, St. Paul Church
File:Vallila Hermanni Kumpula and Arabia.jpg, Aerial view of Vallila (with parts of Hermanni, Kumpula
Kumpula ( sv, Gumtäkt) is a verdant neighbourhood in Helsinki, bordered by Eastern Pasila to the west, Vallila to the south, Käpylä and Koskela to the north and Toukola and Arabianranta to the east. As of January 1, 2003, Kumpula had approxi ...
and Toukola
Toukola ( sv, Majstad) is a neighbourhood of Helsinki, Finland, around 4 km north of the town centre, at the port of Vanhankaupunginlahti. Toukola is part of the administrative region of Vanhakaupunki.
The eldest part of the town consis ...
on the background)
File:Wooden Vallila houses2 2005-29-08.jpg, Wooden Vallila
File:Wooden Vallila houses5 2005-29-08.jpg, Wooden Vallila
File:Wooden_Vallila_houses1_2005-29-08.jpg, Wooden Vallila
File:Vallilantie-Suvannontie-2007.jpg, Vallilantie
File:Hauhontie6.jpg, Buildings on Hauhontie, designed by Martti Välikangas
Martti Välikangas (born Martti Buddén, August 1, 1893, County of Kuopio – May 9, 1973, Helsinki) was a Finnish architect renowned for the design of so-called "Puu-Käpylä" ood-Käpylä the Garden City housing area in Käpylä near Helsi ...
and dating from 1924–25.
File:Vallilan siirtolapuutarha toukokuussa 2010.jpg, Allotment gardens
An allotment (British English), or in North America, a community garden, is a plot of land made available for individual, non-commercial gardening or growing food plants, so forming a kitchen garden away from the residence of the user. Such plot ...
in the northernmost part of Vallila. Kumpula Campus
The Kumpula Campus ( fi, Kumpulan kampus, sv, Campus Gumtäkt) is a science campus of University of Helsinki. The campus is located some four kilometres from the centre of Helsinki, in the Kumpula district. Completed in 2005, it currently provi ...
in the background.
File:Paavalin kirkko, Helsinki.jpg, Saint Paul Church (''Paavalinkirkko'') and roofs of Vallila seen from the north.
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