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 ...

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 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-T ...

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 Kallio (; sv, Berghäll; literally " the rock") is a district and a neighbourhood in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, located on the eastern side of the Helsinki peninsula about one kilometre north from the city centre. It is one of the mo ...

) among young adults and housing is expensive, particularly in Puu-Vallila. Several major companies, such as S Group, Telia Finland, OP Financial Group and Nordea, 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 scholarly ...

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 Aki Olavi Kaurismäki (; born 4 April 1957) is a Finnish film director and screenwriter. He is best known for the award-winning '' Drifting Clouds'' (1996), ''The Man Without a Past'' (2002), ''Le Havre'' (2011) and ''The Other Side of Hope'' (20 ...

'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, 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 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 consist ...

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 in the background. File:Paavalin kirkko, Helsinki.jpg, Saint Paul Church (''Paavalinkirkko'') and roofs of Vallila seen from the north. {{SouthernFinland-geo-stub