Finland
Interview with
Tero Pikkaraine
Suvilahti D
about the
Since the 1st January 2008 the real estate company "Kiinteistö Oy Kaapelitalo" began
developing, renting and maintaining the facilities.The facilities are being renovated for
use by artists and other cultural activities. Suvilahti is already home for photography
studios, artists... You have skated there before the 2011 who came up with the idea of a
skatepark at Suvilahti?
The whole idea was probably brewing in many diffenrent minds simultaneously
because other smaller scale DIY in Wamma Park was taken down in 2009 by some
city officials. We didn't have any concrete to skate anywhere in the central Helsinki.
Originally, not far away from actual Suvilahti area, two skaters, Mäxy and Jone started
building their own DIY spot without permission beside the sea. Some people helped
there to build some other obstacles. That got people inspired, and finally Anssi
Paukkunen from Finnish Skateboard Association rented the corner from the vacant
parking lot in that actual Suvilahti area. And that was the actual beginning of the DIYpark.