Käpylä (; ) is a
neighbourhood
A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...
of
Helsinki
Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
with 7,600 inhabitants. Administratively speaking, Käpylä is a part of the
Vanhakaupunki district.
It is located between
Kumpula,
Oulunkylä and Koskela. Käpylä has a terminus for route-1 of the
Helsinki tram
Trams in Helsinki form part of the Public transport in Helsinki, public transport system organised by Helsinki Regional Transport Authority and operated by Metropolitan Area Transport Ltd (, ) in Finland's capital city of Helsinki. The trams are ...
network.
Additionally, the Olympic Village built for the
1952 Summer Olympics
The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland.
After Japan declared in ...
and another village for the cancelled
1940 Summer Olympics
The 1940 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XII Olympiad, was a planned international multi-sport event scheduled to have been held from 21 September to 6 October 1940, in Tokyo City, Japan, and later rescheduled for 20 July t ...
are located in Käpylä. The Park Hotel, located in Käpylä, became known for being the shooting location of the popular Finnish satirical TV series ''
Hyvät herrat''. One of the two lyceum schools situated in Käpylä has a specific orientation towards students with an interest in the natural sciences.
Tram lines 1 and 1T as well as buses heading along the
Tuusulanväylä freeway bus lines travel to Käpylä. The K, T, I and P trains of the
Helsinki commuter rail
Helsinki commuter rail (, ) is a commuter rail system serving the Helsinki metropolitan area. The system is managed by the Helsinki Regional Transport Authority (HSL) and operations are contracted out to VR Group, VR at least until 2031.
The sys ...
system stop at
Käpylä railway station.
There are smaller regions inside Käpylä, Puu-Käpylä (''wood-Käpylä'') and Taivaskallio.
Puu-Käpylä
Puu-Käpylä
��wood Käpylä’(Swedish ‘Trä-Kottby’) is well known as the earliest example in Finland of the
Garden City Movement
The garden city movement was a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with Green belt, greenbelts. These Garden Cities would contain proportionate areas of residences, i ...
. The suburb of wooden buildings, planned by
Akseli Toivonen and designed by
Martti Välikangas, was built between 1920 and 1925 and designed in the so-called
Nordic Classicism
Nordic Classicism was a Architectural style, style of architecture that briefly blossomed in the Nordic countries (Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland) between 1910 and 1930. The style was also known as Swedish Grace architecture in Sweden.
Until ...
style prevalent throughout the Nordic countries at the time. Puu-Käpylä was a model workers’ housing area, built at a time when there was a bad housing problem for workers in the city. The construction follows the typical Finnish vernacular method: square-log construction then faced in weatherboarding. However, the whole process was partly industrialized, and the area is regarded as the first prefabricated housing area in Finland. The mostly 2-storey semi-detached timber houses are arranged around sheltered courtyards, where originally the tenants’ vegetable gardens were sited. The colours vary slightly from one house to another, but with a dominance of traditional red ochre. The area is still mostly occupied by working-class families though it has also been a popular residential area for professional types, especially architects – and it also has become a favourite tourist attraction.
Välikangas, together with architect Hilding Ekelund, also participated in the design of the Olympic Village situated in Käpylä.
Käpylä was incorporated into the city of
Helsinki
Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
in 1906.
Sports
Football club
Käpylän Pallo plays in
Ykkösliiga
''Ykkösliiga'' (English language, English: ''"League One"''; ) is the second highest level of the Finnish football league system (after the Veikkausliiga), managed by the Football Association of Finland. The teams in Ykkösliiga also play a pre-s ...
, the second tier of football in Finland. The city was part of the
road cycling
Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes recreational, racing, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, road cyclists are generally expected to obey the same laws a ...
event for the
1952 Summer Olympics
The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland.
After Japan declared in ...
. Amateur football club
Käpylä Maanantai play their home matches in Käpylä.
References
1952 Summer Olympics official report.p. 554.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kapyla
Venues of the 1952 Summer Olympics
Neighbourhoods of Helsinki
Garden suburbs
Olympic cycling venues