Helsinki is an architectural admirer's dream: Neoclassical, Neorenaissance, Art Nouveau, National Romantic, Functionalism and modern architecture coexist within blocks-sometimes next door to one another. For 450 years Helsinki remained relatively isolated from the incursions of conquering armies, which swept the European continent from Napolean's to Hitler's Wermacht. The city was spared the devastation that ground German, Russian, and French cities into dust. The result is a well-preserved catalogue of the architectural trends of the past five centuries.

The function of Downtown Helsinki's lighting system animates a robust business and retail district while celebrating its architecture and landscape. It realizes and strengthens the historic and life-supporting connection of water to the central business, park and northern residential community.

The Esplanade

The Esplanade was born in 1812 as part of Johan Albrecht Ehrenstrom's reconstruction plan after the great fire of 1808. He called for an undeveloped area separating the brick town around Senaatintori and the wooden suburbs. Ehrenstrom's initial concept received several revisions, including the landscaping of rows of linden trees, which was the idea of architect Carl Ludvig Engel.

True to Ehrenstom's concept, the northern boulevard, Pohjoisesplanadi, would house the brick buildings familiar to Helsinki's commercial district, while the southern Etelaesplanadi would feature the wooden residential structures. Early on, however, residential buildings found their way to the Pohjoisesplanadi side of the Esplanade. While architectural cross-over certainly is to be expected in a time span of almost 200 years, even today, it is easy to see the differences between north and south sides of the street.

City construction was not completed until the 1850s, at which time Helsinki was left with a stylized, coordinated appearance. Buildings were light-colored, and in the Neoclassical style, while the city itself was spacious, made more so by wide streets and low buildings. By the time Engel finished his charge, he had designed more than 30 public buildings, and supervised the building of more than 600 residences.

In celebration of its 450th birthday and in commemoration of its being showcased as a European Cultural Capital, the civic planners for Helsinki embarked on an ambitious lighting extravaganza that would highlight the history and architecture of the city. Identification of special architectural facades, sculpture and historic traffic corridors was tantamount with the creation of a comfortable pedestrian atmosphere through ambient light created by specialty and custom designed lanterns and luminaires.

Pedestrian scale poles and lantern heads at Pohjoisesplanadi and Etelaesplanadi district streets are located adjacent to, and parallel to curbs. All lanterns and luminaires not only provide illumination of sidewalks and pedestrians, but actually produce some horizontal illumination or "glow". These light poles are designed and lensed in such a way as to provide most of their lighting contribution downward for safety and identification, while maintaining a celebratory effect. The sidewalk located pedestrian-scale lanterns also play a part in the concealment of the building facade lighting.

Common Problems of Streetscape Lighting and Their Solution

The Esplanade's architectural facades are washed to form a "valley of light". The effect is similar to that of other great international central districts, yet different in that the wash of light is generated from concealed luminaires, forming a base or background lighting layer upon which signage and specialty features may be placed.

Helsinki has a highly stylized Neoclassical appearance with light-colored buildings and spacious streets. This nightscape is suffused with a warm glow generated by custom designed metal halide lamps.

Roadway Lighting

The temptation to employ refractor-type roadway luminaires is an obvious device that should be avoided. With the advent of new technologies including lamps, reflectors, and optical systems, light can be delivered to its target without the associated glare of exposed sources. The use of the cut-off roadway luminaire has had a great impact on how we drive. Both cut-off (no light above horizontal) and sharp cut-off (no light above 45 degrees) have made driving and identification of other vehicles, pedestrians and surroundings much easier. Largely from the extreme reduction in glare by better concealment of the lamp source, these shielded fixtures provide a better view than their predecessors. Special consideration was given to drawing attention away from the tall poles and cross-wire mounted roadway fixtures in order to enhance the grand scale of the nighttime environment.

Not only do these cut-off type fixtures provide additional light to sidewalks, roadways and intersections, they also provide the transparency to see building facade illumination and signage more clearly both for intimate viewing, and especially for distance viewing. Cut-off fixtures also deliver light to roadways and sidewalks while allowing the viewer to see past the sparkle of the district's special facade and signage.

The intimate vistas within the district are an important attraction for visitors and workers after dark. A general feeling of comfort and safety can be generated from a lighting system that not only takes into account its architectural surroundings, but the people who move through them as well.

The lighting of above-eye level facade elements plays an important role in projecting the vitality of the district. High activity and a sense that activity is bubbling during nighttime hours is most always projected through raised architecture. It is also a background for the application of signage. Signage on and atop buildings are a key attraction and play a larger role in the identification of the district.

An important consideration for the street and eye level lighting is color. Most street, sidewalk and facade lighting is accomplished with either metal halide (MH) white light or high pressure sodium (HPS) yellow light. Recent studies clearly have proven that our peripheral vision is heightened under whiter sources of light at mesopic light levels (at the point between rod and cone vision). This is critical in heavily vehicular trafficked areas where pedestrians are congregating, strolling or crossing intersections.

Four and one-half meter poles with conical double decorative heads line the district streets. The lantern heads have a contemporary flavor, but with classic lines. The light source is ceramic metal halide - a white light similar to tungsten-halogen. This new and dramatically improved light source has a much higher red output than its standard metal halide predecessors, thus rendering a much whiter, less greenish appearance.

An asymmetric wall-wash type fixture is installed in the lantern head itself behind a clear transparent panel. The biggest advantage to this approach is the total concealment of the building facade lighting system. Facades simply glow with little or no evidence of the light source. The lamp source wattage has been selected on a case-by-case basis depending on the building color and height.

Mission Accomplished

Ross De Alessi's completed plan for downtown Helsinki succeeded in sweeping the top three international awards for lighting design including The Edison Award from General Electric, an Award of Distinction from the International Illumination Design Award Program, and an Award of Merit from the International Association of Lighting Designers. The company is currently designing lighting projects throughout Northwest America, as well as in Europe, Asia, and Africa. LASN

Many of Helskini's buildings have experienced their own sort of renaissance, undergoing structural renovations that allow them to remain useful into this century and beyond. The decorative pedestrian lanterns lining the Senaatintori, emphasize this achievment by providing uplighting on facades while illuminating areas lor wide sidewalks. The statuary is featured by concealed luminaires in planters.