The international architectural competition for Helsinki Central Library, titled “The Heart of the Metropolis”, received a total of 544 proposals. From this vast number, six were selected for the second-stage competition held in 2013. The unanimous jury chose ALA Architects’ proposal “Käännös” as the winner. With its folds and turns, Oodi is indeed a startling building: its undulating wooden façade and interior forms curve and transform — the whole building seems to turn and shift in response to the urban space around it.

Oodi is not only an inspiring building, but also a crystallisation of conflicting values. The architectural competition brief conveys the ideals and meanings underlying the library project. The idea of a new kind of central library had already emerged in the 1990s in connection with the development of the Kamppi–Töölönlahti area. The library would be placed in a demanding urban setting, in the value-laden environment of central Helsinki, where it would rise as a new symbolic building. When approving the Töölönlahti town plan, the City Council required that every building in the area be designed through an architectural competition. This highlights both the importance of the area and the connection between symbolic buildings and architectural competitions.

The language of economics can also be heard in this new form of cultural policy. Oodi’s competition brief uses terms such as “innovation”, “top expertise”, and “competitiveness”. At the same time, language related to wellbeing and the support of civil society is strongly present. According to the brief, the library should be a non-commercial, open, public space whose aim is to narrow the digital divide between citizens and prevent informational exclusion.

Oodi has indeed become a living room for all city residents, a venue for events, and an incubator of ideas. The Book Heaven on the upper floor welcomes a diverse flood of visitors every day. Compared with an ordinary library, Oodi contains an enormous range of unusual functions, from a music studio to overlock sewing machines available for loan. The award-winning Oodi is often described as “a library reimagined”. The pseudonym “Käännös” — “Turn” or “Translation” — also refers to the changing role of the library.