The final exhibition at Laituri welcomes people to an urban living room

The Night of the Arts ushers in Our Urban Living Room, an exhibition by a Danish community of architects Cobe, based on Cobe’s projects and a book by the same title, opening on 23 August at 4 pm. The exhibition space at Laituri will also showcase on-going projects in Helsinki that highlight the city as a living room and a living space for its residents.

The exhibition on urban living rooms is Laituri’s final exhibition to be organised in the exhibition space at the old bus station in Kamppi. The new facilities for resident and participatory activities of the City of Helsinki’s Urban Environment Division will open in December in the Central Library Oodi.

Cobe: We regard the city as an extension to people’s homes

The exhibition Our Urban Living Room by Cobe tells about Copenhagen’s architectural development and depicts how the development of the city and the consequent changes have affected people’s lives. The exhibition space features a wooden bookshelf you can dive into to explore Cobe’s projects located in Copenhagen, as well as to contemplate what an urban living room would be like in your city.

“Helsinki is a great city and we are thankful for the opportunity to have our exhibition here, given the similarities between our cities. Today, we have a completely different way of making use of our cities than two decades ago. Our city harbour has developed into the biggest park in Copenhagen, and there is a flourishing cycling culture in the city. The city’s libraries have transformed from places for only borrowing books into places where students can carry out their daily tasks, families will gather to spend their Saturday mornings and homeless people have the opportunity to read the daily newspapers. The city has become our urban living room. Many of us who live in Copenhagen do not have big and spacious apartments, which makes it natural for us to take our leisure activities and expand our homes out into the urban environment. Copenhagen lacks a prominent tourist attraction, such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Statue of Liberty in New York. We are best known for the statue of the Little Mermaid that is 1.5 meters in height, and our main attraction nowadays is the everyday life in Copenhagen. We at Cobe strive to discover and develop this everyday life by creating outstanding architecture for everyday use that gives more to the city than it takes away. This lays the basis for a better, healthier, more social and even more beautiful everyday life,” says Dan Stubbegaard, architect and founder at Cobe.

Helsinki is a living space

The smaller exhibition space at Laituri features a living room where visitors can discover four projects, each with a unique take on the city of Helsinki; the newly transforming Hakaniemi waterfront, the new Central Library Oodi, the Nihti residential area in Kalasatama that is a future home for thousands of people, and the Pasila street art district all have an impact on how Helsinki is being currently developed. What defines a comfortable and safe public space and what does it look like, and how can you design and build a functional city together?

Painting and panel discussion on the opening night

The opening event on the Night of the Arts kicks off at 4 pm with a panel discussion taking a look at urban spaces as an extension to people’s homes. After the panel discussion, visitors are welcome to participate in a street art workshop by the female street art movement Mimmit peinttaa ry and to leave their imprint on the exhibition. The event is free of charge.