Esplanadi ( Swedish : Esplanaden ), colloquially known as Espa , is an esplanade and urban park in downtown Helsinki , Finland, situated between the Erottaja square and the Market Square . It is bordered on its northern and southern sides by the Pohjoisesplanadi ( Norra Esplanaden , North Esplanadi) and Eteläesplanadi ( Södra Esplanaden , South Esplanadi) streets, respectively. Aleksanterinkatu runs parallel to Esplanadi. Esplanadi is well known as a popular walking area, and street performances are also often held in the park.
17-602: Designed by the architect Carl Ludwig Engel , the park was originally opened in 1818. In 1827, Engels Teater (the predecessor of the Swedish Theatre ), the first theatre building in Helsinki, also designed by Engel, was erected in a corner of the park. Centered in the park is a statue of Johan Ludvig Runeberg , the national poet of Finland, by his son Walter Runeberg . Other public art pieces include works by Viktor Jansson , Gunnar Finne and Lauri Leppänen . The eastern end of
34-612: A page but started studying architecture at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts in Stockholm in 1784. His principal teacher was Louis Jean Desprez . He was awarded prizes at the academy in 1788 and 1790, and after finishing his studies left for an eight-year-long study trip to Italy and Paris . He thereafter returned to Stockholm and began his career as an assistant to Carl Christoffer Gjörwell in his position as city architect of Stockholm. Gjörwell and Bassi had studied together at
51-477: A Neoclassical style and had a significant impact on the architecture of Finland in several ways. Notably, the city centre of Turku with its pronounced Neoclassical architecture contains several buildings by Bassi and was to some extent shaped by his work. In Sweden, where he began his career, only a single building can be safely attributed to Bassi's hand: Aske Manor in Uppland . In Finland, Bassi continued to work in
68-563: A palace on Kohtu street 8 in Tallinn survives (today housing the Estonian Chancellor of Justice ) and, possibly, Kernu manor. From 1814 to 1815, he worked for a businessman in Turku, Finland , where he came in contact with Johan Albrecht Ehrenström , who led the project of rebuilding Helsinki. The city had just been promoted to be the new capital of the new Grand Duchy of Finland . Ehrenström
85-701: The Finnish War ). At first he was active as an independent architect, notably in Turku, and was in 1810 appointed as the head of a government agency ( Swedish : intendenturkontoret ) responsible for producing plans for new church buildings. He kept his position and in 1821 moved with the agency to the new capital of the Grand Duchy , Helsinki . He took his leave in 1824 and was succeeded by Carl Ludvig Engel . He moved back to Turku and continued working as an independent architect there until his death in 1840. Bassi worked in
102-599: The academy and knew each other. In 1802 Bassi travelled to Finland (at the time a part of Sweden) to supervise the construction of a new building for the Royal Academy of Turku designed by Gjörwell. The finishing of the construction of the building was delayed until 1815 and by that time Bassi had already established himself as an independent architect in Turku . He never returned to Sweden but settled permanently in Finland (which in 1809 had been lost by Sweden to Russia following
119-451: The best example of Bassi's architecture from the 1810s. At Joensuu Manor he designed a granary which is the first secular Neo-Gothic building in Finland (1813). The churches designed by Bassi usually followed local tradition in their design, as this was often requested by the parishes. Most of them are restrained, cross-shaped churches. Among the later works of Bassi, the main building of Åbo Akademi University in Turku has been proposed as
136-483: The first theater of Helsinki, Engels Teater , in 1827, though this was a rather modest building. He was also responsible for the new city plan for Turku after most of it was wiped out by the Great Fire of Turku in 1827. Engel died on 14 May 1840 in Helsinki. Charles Bassi Charles (Carlo) Francesco Bassi (12 November 1772, Turin – 11 November 1840, Turku ) was a Finnish architect of Italian descent. He
153-561: The park houses the Kappeli restaurant, which opened in 1867. In front of the restaurant is an outdoor stage, which hosts numerous live music performances. Other prestigious restaurants on the edge of the park include Restaurant Olo on Pohjoisesplanadi and Savoy Restaurant on Eteläesplanadi. This Southern Finland location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Carl Ludwig Engel Carl Ludvig Engel or Johann Carl Ludwig Engel (3 July 1778 – 14 May 1840)
170-497: The position as town architect of Tallinn, Estonia . He got the job and in this way came into the vicinity of St. Petersburg and its neoclassical Empire style . Finland was also close by and was soon to experience a new governmental phase as a Grand Duchy under Russian rule . Engel started working in Tallinn in 1809, but just after a few years he was forced to move on again because of a lack of assignments. From this period in Estonia,
187-458: The restrained form of Neoclassicism which was popular in Sweden (sometimes called Gustavian after King Gustav III ) and practised by his friend and co-worker Gjörwell. It stands in contrast to the more elaborate Neoclassicism that was later to become popular in Finland through the influence from Saint Petersburg , practised e.g. by his successor Carl Ludvig Engel. Wiurila Manor has been described as
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#1732855488693204-699: Was a German architect whose most noted work can be found in Helsinki , which he helped rebuild. His works include most of the buildings around the capital's monumental centre, the Senate Square and the buildings surrounding it. The buildings are Helsinki Cathedral , The Senate (now the Palace of the Council of State ), the Helsinki City Hall , and the library and the main building of Helsinki University . Carl Ludvig Engel
221-536: Was appointed architect of the reconstruction committee for Helsinki. Engel probably thought that this would once again be a temporary job, but instead Helsinki came to be his life's work. In 1819–1820, when Engel's first creations were nearing completion, his status as a kind of head architect of the Grand Duchy was established when he received more and more building assignments, both private and public, in other parts of Finland. The final confirmation came when he in 1824
238-561: Was appointed head of the statewide Intendant's Office, responsible for all key state buildings throughout the country, a position he was offered - but first declined because he still had hopes of returning to Prussia - following the resignation of its first head, the Italian-born architect Carlo Bassi , and which he retained until his death. Among his other key works from this period is Helsinki Old Church in Kamppi , completed in 1826. He designed
255-619: Was born in 1778 in Charlottenburg, Berlin , into a family of bricklayers. It was probably as a bricklayer apprentice that he first came in contact with his future profession as an architect. He trained at the Berlin Institute of Architecture after which he served in the Prussian building administration. The stagnation caused by Napoleon's victory over Prussia in 1806 forced him and other architects to find work abroad. In 1808, he applied for
272-558: Was searching for a talented architect to work by his side and this meeting proved to be decisive for Carl Ludvig Engel's future career. At this stage Engel did not however stay in Finland. In March 1815 he travelled to St. Petersburg where he got private employment. In 1816 Engel was planning on returning to his city of birth, but at the same time Ehrenström got approval for his plan to get Engel to Helsinki. Engel's plans for Helsinki had been shown to Czar Alexander I and in February Engel
289-479: Was the first professionally trained architect who permanently worked in present-day Finland. He worked, both as an independent architect and as an official responsible for planning new churches, in a Neoclassical style . Charles Bassi was the brother of ballet dancer Giovanna Bassi and came with her from present-day Italy to Sweden in 1783. Initially, he was employed by the Swedish King Gustav III as
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