Art of Arabianranta

Arabianranta is known as a district of art and design where art is intertwined with the everyday environment of the residents. This can be seen, in addition to works of art, in the art schools, history of the area and the names of streets and places. Tuula Isohanni (TaT), who was the art coordinator of the area, has characterised the features of art in Arabianranta the following way:

“The majority of the works in the northern part of Arabianranta is connected to entrances. They make the everyday staircases special and they celebrate the homecoming of residents. Art is used to create identifiable places and highlight events like arrival to the area, ends of residential streets, opening to the beach park and special houses.”

”The artistic concept of southern part or the Toukoranta area was developed to treat the exterior premises of the buildings as a whole. These so-called artistic yards have been given special themes and their artists worked closely with the designers of these yards.”

”International know-how in the area can be seen in the Tapio Wirkkala’s park, designed by the American artist and director Robert Wilson, which invites into its nine rooms, common moments and activities along the Arabiankatu.”

The so-called percent for art principle was followed in the production of Arabianranta: the city obliged the builders to spend 1–2% of the project’s cost on art. In addition to the art owned by Arabian Palvelu, there is art owned by housing associations and the City of Helsinki in Arabianranta.