Aviapolis

Vantaa, Finland

Urban Plan

240.000 m²

2019

Aviapolis is located next to Helsinki–Vantaa Airport, a major air-traffic hub where local life intersects with global flows. Each year, millions of passengers pass through the area, bringing cultural exchange but also significant environmental pressure. Air traffic generates large amounts of waste, placing strain on the surrounding territory and exposing the need for new urban models capable of addressing both intensity and impact.

The project for the first development phase of Aviapolis responds to this condition by treating environmental responsibility and collective life as interconnected systems. Rather than approaching sustainability as a technical add-on, the proposal integrates circular economy principles and shared infrastructures as structuring elements of the urban fabric. In this context, Aviapolis is envisioned as a testing ground for collective systems that transform waste, energy, and resources into active components of daily life.

Urban form plays a central role in supporting this ambition. The proposed blocks are designed to embrace diversity, allowing a mix of building heights, typologies, configurations, and uses. Housing and workspaces are interwoven, forming what the project describes as social atoms — a dense network of shared functions and activities that support everyday interaction while accommodating different ways of living. From upper-floor dwellings with long views over the city to ground-level units with direct access to private gardens, the district is shaped by variation rather than repetition.

Within this structure, shared spaces operate as social connectors rather than residual areas. The project frames a textured urban environment where collective amenities and everyday functions overlap, enabling residents to choose how they inhabit the district while remaining connected to a larger system.