Helsinki plans unique skate pool in Töölönlahti Park

Helsinki is planning a skate pool for Töölönlahti Park that celebrates the role of Finnish cultural heritage in the history of skateboarding, said the city in a press release on Thursday.

The skate pool being planned for Töölönlahti is a replica adapted for skateboarding of the swimming pool designed by Alvar Aalto for Villa Mairea in the late 1930s.

The idea of building a skate pool in Helsinki came from professional skateboarder and photographer Arto Saari. In collaboration with the City, he found a suitable place for the skate pool in Töölönlahti Park.

"The American landscape architect Thomas Church once visited the Aaltos in Finland. According to the story, Church was inspired by Villa Mairea, designed by the Aaltos, and brought the idea of the freeform swimming pool to California. The numerous free-form swimming pools that were subsequently built in California laid the foundations for modern skateboarding culture when skaters began using the pools that had been drained due to drought in the 1970s. It is possible that Finnish architecture thus had a surprising influence on the development of global skateboarding culture", said Sasu Haanpää, one of the initiators of the project and Arto Saari’s collaborator.

The skate pool is being planned as part of the park plan for Töölönlahti Park, which will be discussed by the Urban Environment Committee towards the end of the year. The construction of the park could begin in autumn 2027, according to estimates.

Before decision-making, the draft park plan will be put on public display from 14 to 27 October, during which time stakeholders can submit objections regarding the plan.

The city already collected wider feedback from residents on the draft.