I walked the Everyday Architecture (Arjen arkkitehtuuria) route in Pori. This is one of Pori city’s cultural routes, which is mainly based on architecture. This route included eight stops, each marking one of Pori’s cultural and historical architecture objects. The route is short, only 1.1 km, which starts from the city centre, exactly from the Market Hall (Kauppahalli).
First stop was Pori’s first Market Hall, which was built in December 1927 for a Christmas market sale. The first steps for its building were taken by businessman Arthur Hellman after decades without progress in building a Market Hall. The purpose of this hall was to establish new hygiene and health standards for markets and their production due to dust and other issues outside. Also, the apartment building ”Hellman’s Skyscraper” is a part of Market Hall, which was named exactly like that because it had more than five floors and the first elevator in Pori. (Porin kaupungin museopalvelut, 2024)

Nowadays, this place is no less unique than it was in the past. The building’s facade itself is fascinating, and inside it’s even more breathtaking due to an old architectural style with columns and a high rooftop that has the shape of a half of sphere. This place is definitely must see at least once.
The next stop was pretty close, on the other side of a street – Old police station (Vanha poliisilaitos). The building was originally built as a warehouse in 1818, but from 1884 till 1961 was used as a police station. The history of the Police Department begins even earlier in 1839, with police regulations to bring characteristics of organized society into the city. The aim was to keep the city tidy and prevent domestic animal roaming in the streets. And finally, in 1961 year the police station moved to Satakunnankatu street, where it is now. (Porin kaupungin museopalvelut, 2024)
Nowadays, this building represents the history behind the police and tidiness today. It is worth seeing how buildings were built in the early 19th century and how they were preserved till nowadays, how much history it shares with locals and the city, as well as imagining that somewhere in the past, that is how the police stations looked. Nothing like nowadays for sure.

The third stop was a little more separated from the other stops – Appelqvist House – Saima Kindergarten (Appelqvistin talo – Lastentarhatalo Saima). In 1852, this wooden house survived the last great fire in Pori. In the 1950s, it was restored to its 1920s appearance, and was saved from demolition by the Kehittyvä puukaupunki project (2005–2007). Later in 2016, Saima Kindergarten House began operating in the building, which was a museum.
Now the house hosts various activities for children and families, as well as public events. (Porin kaupungin museopalvelut, 2024). This place again shows a tendency of wooden houses at this period of time, as we already saw it in the Old Police building. However, due to renovation work, this architectural piece is preserved a lot better than the previous one. The typicality of one-story buildings also shows us the norms of building that were actual in the 19th century. Also, the colourfulness is something that catches eyes on. It was not typical to build every building in the same colour. They were different.

The fourth stop was Heikinlinna, which was the first apartment building that was completed in 1942 in the fifth district. For a long time, it remained the only apartment building dominated by wooden houses in its district. By the 1960s and 1970s, the entire district was planned to become an apartment building area, but the plan was declined, and only the Northern part was turned into an apartment building in the fifth district. (Porin kaupungin museopalvelut, 2024)
Now it is an apartment building with a commercial first floor. Looking at this building, I can already say that it is an old one and that renovation would have helped it, because it contains a lot of spots that I guess were somehow damaged or just from old age that needed repair and were just restored, but it’s clearly seen where it was done due to a different colour. Although it is worth seeing an old apartment building from which the building process of others in the northern part began.

The fifth stop was the ticket kiosk (Lippakioski), which was built in the early 1930s. This kiosk represents a functional style without any decorative elements, only functionality. It introduced more permanent solutions alongside mobile street shops. In Pori, there were only six places with those kiosks, in the busiest areas. This kiosk was working from 1934 to 1987. (Porin kaupungin museopalvelut, 2024)
This kiosk is a unique place where everyone can see how they looked in the past, because nowadays there are many kiosks, but they look completely different from this one, which shows us the development of the architecture industry and the change in time and building technologies. It is worth seeing just to know what a kiosk meant in the past and for what needs it was meant to serve.

The next stop was Sibelius Park (Sibeliuspuisto), which in 1811 was the last remaining square free from buildings in the fifth district, named Aleksanterintori. Then it was used for horse trading and became known as Hevostori. Only in the 1930s the square started its planting. In honor of the 88th birthday of composer Jean Sibelius in 1953, the park was renamed to Sibelius Park. In the 1950s, the playground was located in the park as it is today. Also, on the southern edge of the park is a transformer station building. (Porin kaupungin museopalvelut, 2024)
The park is quite small with not really many trees, but what I think is meaningful and important is that it is located near the city center around many buildings, and contains a playground. In my opinion, it is a great place for spending time in nature if people don’t have much time to go somewhere else. It still is a green place in the city, containing as well the history of it and the previous stop – ticket kiosk. This place combines two historically and culturally meaningful spots.

The seventh stop was the Building Culture House Toivo (Rakennuskulttuuritalo Toivo), which is the Satakunta Museum managed by a renovation construction center. Its building began after the eight fire in Pori in 1811. Hedelmämehutehdas Toivo, in addition were operating on the site besides residential use, and it was named after the Lemonade company when it was completed. The Korsman house opened after renovation in 1999, which is a two-room apartment furnished for the fictional Korsman family living in the 1950s. (Porin kaupungin museopalvelut, 2024)
It is an interesting building from the 19th century, which nowadays serves as an illustration of how people lived in the 1950s, the lemonade factory that was there placed and also a historical architectural sign. It also gives an opportunity to imagine how the factory looked, that it wasn’t a huge one, but a small one in a wooden house. In my opinion, it is something unique due to thinking about factories as large grey objects somewhere on countryside.

The last stop on the Everyday architecture route was Itätulli kindergarten (Itätullin päiväkoti), a two-story building that was built in 1926. It was one of the first kindergartens in Pori. It was a Finnish-language daycare center. The location was based on the assumption that the city would grow bigger in that direction. Kindergarten was designed for the comfort of kids with a smaller distance between stairs for easier walking up and down from staircase. It operated until 2011, but now it is unused and protected in a local plan. (Porin kaupungin museopalvelut, 2024)
This building contains a lot of memories for locals as probably some of them went to this kindergarten, as well as being preserved as a culturally historical place of education. It shows how children’s comfort and their education mattered, with the wide windows and the small stairs. Even in the past the comfort was a priority. This building shows not only the similarities, but also the differences between kindergartens now and then. I think that is worth seeing.

Now the Everyday architecture route comes to an end. I enjoyed every minute of this walk and was curious to get to know places better in person after reading the description about them.
I definitely recommend visiting some routes in Pori based on your own interests, because even living in the city doesn’t make you a person who knows everything about it, there will always be room for new knowledge!
Text and photos: Līga Kuroša, International Tourism Management student















































