Kivinokka – a cultural landscape in transition

This master’s thesis studies Kivinokka as an urban landscape where cultural heritage and meanings have cumulated over time. Kivinokka is a 68-hectare large cape in the neighbourhoods of Herttoniemi and Kulosaari in southeastern Helsinki. It has a history as a landscape of leisure. Kivinokka transformed from a rural landscape of production to a landscape of leisure during the 19th century, when the owners of the Brändö manor, located in Kivinokka, began using it as their summer residence. Workers started to spend their summers in Kivinokka in the beginning of the 20th century. In the 1930’s, the city founded a folkpark, a recreational area dedicated to the working class, in Kivinokka. Today, this tradition of free time lives on in Kivinokka in the form of summer huts and an allotment garden, and the area has been named a regionally significant cultural landscape as a remnant of a 20th century working class summer colony.



The aim of the thesis is to examine the cultural heritage of landscape through a concrete example. In the thesis, the formation of cultural heritage is seen as an ongoing process arising from the interaction between the physical environment and culture. The focus of the thesis on the significance and the different roles Kivinokka has had in Helsinki at different times, and they are mirrored to the present-day.

In the first part, the goals for the thesis are set. The second part examines the development of Kivinokka in the context of the changing city. It analyses how the meanings of Kivinokka have evolved along with the societal changes and how these meanings are visible in the landscape. The third part presents Kivinokka’s present state from its social environment to its functionality, built environment and natural environment.

The objective of the plan is to reconcile Kivinokka’s present values and its cultural heritage with its changed role in the city. The history and legacy of Kivinokka are seen as strenghts that should guide its future change. The plan outlines how the 20th century folkpark transforms into a 21st century urban commons.