Meet Lapinlahti people: Saara Kantele

I am Saara Kantele, architect and designer. At this moment I am finishing up my second Master’s degree at the Aalto University Department of Design, and I have a corporate name from the architecture and design services field.

I have just started renting a working space in the beautiful Venice-building right by the sea at the beginning of July. At my studio I do architectural and spatial design, and my diploma work about forests and using wood from the perspective of a designer.

I’ve known the area for a long time. I’ve been coming here to swim and spend my summer days, and even now I often go for a quick swim during my lunch break or on my way home. Lapinlahti has its own atmosphere. It feels good to be here. The closeness of the sea is imminent, and the park areas and old trees are calming.

There is a good atmosphere in Lapinlahti. A lot of people from different creative fields and service industry workers are gathered here. This place has become a world of its own. In Helsinki the inner city has already been built very full, and Lapinlahti is an important haven for more casual activity and creative encounters. A growing city needs these kinds of places of respite. Those relaxed areas, where common-good and communal things can thrive and have a positive influence on the whole surrounding city structure. I think Lapinlahti as it is now is worth protecting.