Drs. Beata Dreksler and Yaser Abunnasr (both LDEM), joined LDEM alumni Julia Abi Saab and Yara El Assaad, and 4th year students Yasmeena Farajallah and Aya Khoury, in the Lentoasemanpuisto Ideas Competition, an open international competition for the design of the park on the site of the former Malmi Airport in Helsinki, Finland.
The March 2021 competition, organized by the City of Helsinki and the Finnish Association of Landscape Architects, was held to find innovative, inspiring proposals that are technically, and financially feasible. The park will function as the central public space for a large residential neighborhood of great importance to the overall identity of the space. Lentoasemanpuisto is expected to become a new recreational destination for the city and to attract people from all over Helsinki. The challenge in designing the park was in incorporating its rich cultural heritage, natural and ecological values, and versatility of function into the design. The project of the LDEM team is titled FLOWS and comprised aspects of landscape, cityscape, ecology, functionality, and local cultural history.
As the jury commented: “The entry is a cornucopia of ideas inspired by the site's past and its processes, which provides many interesting looking spots". Although the entry did not receive an award, it was an enriching student and faculty experience that also provided international visibility to the BLA program at LDEM. Similar initiatives, involving faculty members and students at LDEM are planned for the future. The evaluation report can be found here .
