Halvoo, Finland - a SketchUp city
 

This is Halvoo (Halvöby in Swedish), a fictional city on the southern coast of Finland. It will be set in an alternate reality, where Finns aren’t afraid of high rise buildings. Also it will be more compact than an actual Finnish city this size would be. That’s to make it possible for me to reach the suburbs some time – though I probably never will get to modeling the suburbs. The planned area is 10 km x 10 km, about 100 times more than what I covered with Bourne – and that took me years.

To introduce you to the city, here’s a short recap of its history. I’ve tried to make it in line with the actual history of Finland, but I’ve used artistic freedom here and there.

Chronological history

11th century:
First signs of permanent settlement on Halvoonniemi cape.

15th century:
Halvoonkylä trade village is located at approximately the current downtown area.

1674:
Halvoo is given city rights.

1760’s:
Halvoonlinna, a fort protecting the harbor, is completed.

1829:
The latest great fire destroys most of the city. A new grid plan is drawn for the city by Carl Olof Cederfelt.

1850:
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5631/...6b644e74_o.pngMap_1850 by Vellu04, on Flickr

1882:
New South Port is opened to replace the cramped Old Port.

1893:
Railway from Helsinki to Turku is opened and Halvoo Station is one stop along the way. A branch line continues to the port.

1900:
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/730/2...30ce1eab45.jpgMap_1900 by Vellu04, on Flickr

1940-44:
Some of the buildings and even whole blocks are destroyed in Soviet bombings during WWII. Damage to the city and its population is not extensive.

1949:
A new port for oil transportation is opened on Isoniemi cape just south of Halvoonniemi cape.

1950:
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5771/...6fd3ffaf_o.pngMap_1950 by Vellu04, on Flickr

1959:
Halvoo airport is opened.

1964:
Highway bypassing the city center is opened. Later it becomes a part of Helsinki – Turku highway.

1968:
University of Halvoo is founded.

1980:
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/733/2...d96128e4_o.pngMap_1980 by Vellu04, on Flickr

1987:
New highway bypassing the city from south side is completed.

1992:
Halvoo Port is opened to replace the South Port and later the Isoniemi Port. Redevelopment of the old port area begins.

Current map:
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1561/...333a3e55_o.pngMap_2015 by Vellu04, on Flickr

Start of modeling: the Market Square. It is located on the north side of the Old Port - which nowadays mostly has only ships converted to restaurants at berth; the one active ship being the ferry to the Halvoonlinna fortress. From spring to autumn, the Market Square is very active with vendors selling fresh Finnish food and souvenirs. There are also many outdoor cafés at the square.

The Market Hall is just to the west.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1534/...c13b5ff9_o.jpgSection001_pic01 by Vellu04, on Flickr

Cool city! How many skyscrapers do you plan to have and how tall will the tallest be?

This looks promising!

Great start! I really like it.

Thanks for the comments!

Well, I don't have exact plans, but I'm thinking the tallest will be around 200 meters. I guess it will be located in some of the redevelopment zones, so it will be a while (years, I guess) before I get to model it. The highrises in the city center will probably all be under 150 meters.

Skyscraper enthusiasm hit Halvoo in the 1920's. This building, Apollontorni, at the corner of Kirkkokatu and Nikolainkatu streets, was one of the highrises constructed during that decade. It's 62 meters tall.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1711/...6d28fe1d_o.jpgSection001_pic02 by Vellu04, on Flickr

I am looking forward to watching your city develop. I like the idea of having that underlying map that you use as a template. It also helps us to anticipate the progress.

I very much like your buildings!

Ditto to what BillM said!

I love this new city, it already looks amazing. I think 200m is perfect for a large office building, Lakeport's tallest early 21st century skyscraper will be around 250m to 300m

Thanks for all the comments!

Here's a couple of former port warehouses converted to a congress center (the Satama Congress Center) and small restaurants / shops. The Laituri 1 ("Pier One") restaurant at the tip of that pier offers its customers delicious dishes as well as great views of the city.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1569/...243951fe_o.jpgSection001_pic03 by Vellu04, on Flickr

Looking good so far. What will you put on the tiny block by the courthouse? I would put a statue on there if I were you

I love the historic buildings, I love the waterfront, and i can't wait to see some glass skyscrapers.

Also, May I use your textures from Bourne for some of Lakeport?

Thanks!

I'm not quite sure what building you mean by "courthouse", but all the empty lots are left empty on purpose, so there's no development planned for them - at least not for the moment.

By all means! That was one of the reasons that I uploaded Bourne in the first place, so other SketchUp artists could more easily make wonderful cities for us to admire.

Update: couple of blocks by the sea.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1667/...b68bcc9e_o.jpgSection001_pic05 by Vellu04, on Flickr

Buildings along the Merikatu street.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1553/...c3862ae2_o.jpgSection001_pic04 by Vellu04, on Flickr

I very much like the way the city looks in that first view!

Thanks!

Update:
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1596/...cb1cffcf_o.jpgSection001_pic06 by Vellu04, on Flickr

Looking at Merikatu 35, a residential building from the 1920's. It's 47 m tall, which makes it one of Halvoo's pre-war highrises.
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1631/...312900f5_o.jpgSection001_pic07 by Vellu04, on Flickr

A view from Rantapuisto park.
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1714/...fa26d0de_o.jpgSection001_pic08 by Vellu04, on Flickr

Nice job so far!

Thanks, Spidey!

The Teuermann department store is the largest and most expensive department store in Halvoo. It was founded by German merchant Rudolf Teuermann, who came to Finland in the 1880's. The current building was completed in the 1910's and originally occupied about two thirds of the block. The store has since expanded, and with the extension completed in the 1980's, it now occupies the whole block.

Across the Kirkkokatu street is one of Halvoo's pre-war highrises. The headquarters of Untamo insurance company, built in the 1930's, is 55 meters tall.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7770/...d2764863_o.jpgSection001_pic09 by Vellu04, on Flickr

Beautiful impeccable work. Can´t wait for Halvoo to enter the 1970s

Amazing job! I love watching the city grow block by block.

Amazing work. Looks very Finnish and both the maps and the model look like a real Nordic city. The last map... I'd totally assume that's a real place.

Thanks for the comments!

Thanks! I've been interested in city maps since primary school, so hopefully it shows in the realism. It also helped to make different maps for different decades, so I had to give real thought to the city's historical evolution.

On to the update...

City Center is an office and retail complex from the 1960's. The taller north tower is 83 meters tall. The developers actually named the complex in English to make it "feel more urban".

Whole block of older buildings was torn down to make way for it, so it was on of the main reasons why most of the remaining pre-war buildings in the city center were preserved in the late 1970's.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7777/...2e98c212_o.jpgSection001_pic10 by Vellu04, on Flickr

City Center in the skyline.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7793/...38fded6b_o.jpgSection001_pic11 by Vellu04, on Flickr

A view from the Cathedral Square.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7759/...aeb4a3c7_o.jpgSection001_pic12 by Vellu04, on Flickr

Based on this picture, I'd never guess this was a fictional city if I didn't already know it was. Great job modelling and rendering.

Amazing! the seafront balcony building looks modeled not textured. It all looks very photorealistic. City Center looks iconic, but I would make the parking lot base smaller or interrupted by some pedestrian inlet like a plaza or... strip mall.

Vellu, Halvoo is absolutely beautiful, it's interesting to see you do a European city. I'm so happy to see after all this time your still working on Sketchup cities, you truly have an eye for it. I'm super jealous of your ground textures and trees, they add a huge amount of realism and really make me want to redo Staunton's, maybe one day.

If I had any critique to give I'd have to agree with Verticalextropy, a small plaza would make City Center feel much more realistic. I'm excited to see what's next, you really inspired me to get back into Staunton.

Thanks for the comments!

I agree that City Center's podium isn't a beauty. It's actually meant to represent the neglect of context that was one of the not-so-good things about Finnish architecture in the 1960's. I love modernism, but unfortunately modernist buildings don't always fit their surroundings that well. City Center's podium is actually mostly retail space, the parking garage occupies only about one fourth of it.

Here's another couple of blocks completed. No landmarks here.

https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7642/2...fb01bfd0_o.jpgSection001_pic13 by Vellu04, on Flickr

The trees and the ground textures are actually mostly the same that I used in Bourne. It's been uploaded in to 3D Warehouse as "City of Bourne", so if you want to reuse them, then go ahead.

Great work. How big are you planning on making this city?

Your buildings look great!

Thanks for the comments!

Hopefully I'll finish at least the city center, which is the first four sections of one square kilometer each. My ultimate goal is of course to finish the whole map, but at this point this goal seems quite unrealistic.

Ameriikantorni is Halvoo's original high rise. It was constructed for the company of shipping tycoon Kalle Bergman. He had many times sailed to North America and was very enthusiastic about the skyscrapers there. The tower got its name from Bergman's inspiration ("America Tower"). Ameriikantorni is 45 meters tall and was completed in 1909.

https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7338/2...c1a2af35_o.jpgSection001_pic14 by Vellu04, on Flickr

What's the modernist building with the antenna?

That's Urhonkatu 36. It houses the Halvoo headquarters of the telecommunications company Alisa and their telecom equipment is installed on the roof.

The southern half of the Old Port went trough a renewal in the 1990's. The old ferry terminal was replaced by the Museum of Modern Art (coming up later). A couple of derelict warehouses were torn down and they were replaced by a restaurant building (the round building in the below picture) and a park.

Next to the park is the Strand Hotel. It was originally completed in 1889 and with its most recent renovation in 2010, it today is the most prestigious and the most expensive hotel in Halvoo.

One block west is Halvoo's tallest pre-WWII building. Urhontorni is 76 meters tall and was completed in 1934.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7655/2...59bd7155_o.jpgSection001_pic15 by Vellu04, on Flickr

Looking across the Old Port. For this scene I replaced my low-poly textured ships with these ships from the 3D Warehouse.

https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7335/2...fa810abc_o.jpgSection001_pic16 by Vellu04, on Flickr

The city so far:

https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7442/2...a5e65908_o.jpgSection001_pic17 by Vellu04, on Flickr

Great job as always and thanks for the info on Urhonkatu 36. I'd like to suggest something: make a central telecommunications tower similar in design to Tokyo Tower, about 250 meters tall (height is based on the size of Halvoo because the area it has to cover). I'm not suggesting a concrete tower because almost every other major city in Europe has one, and a concrete tower would just look too generic because of this.

This city looks great!

I like how its mostly old fashioned buildings!

Took a little summer break, but now I'm back at Halvoo.

This is an interesting idea and I might realise it. I just have to find a logical spot fitting Halvoo's history for it.

The new Cirrus Hotel Satamatorni is under construction. It's replacing a low rise office building from the 1960's.

https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8380/2...b9f6eec5_o.jpgSection001_pic18 by Vellu04, on Flickr

The crane is from the 3D Warehouse: Liebherr 200hc Tower Crane by fatpencilstudio.

Great to see another update!
Just say in the 50's and 60's there was a massive influx of Japanese immigrants. :D
Also it should be in the center of the city for maximum effectiveness. Build it over the train station just north of what's currently modelled, like Tokyo Skytree.
How tall will the new hotel be when it's finished? Or are you going to leave it U/C?

This city is very good looking!

Thanks for the comments!

Actually I already have other plans for that area :)

It's going to be a bit over 70 meters tall. Just about as tall as its close neighbour Urhontorni. The construction will happen in the backround and I will show it in detail once the construction is completed.

The last Old Port Ferry Terminal was built in the 1950's, but once the new Halvoo Port opened in 1992, also ferry traffic was moved. The ferry terminal was in quite a bad shape, so it was demolished during the renewal of the Old Port area in the 1990's. It's replacement was the new Museum of Modern Art, which opened its doors in 1999 - just in time for the new millennia celebrations.

https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8107/2...215fd0a6_o.jpgSection001_pic19 by Vellu04, on Flickr

https://c4.staticflickr.com/9/8203/2...c37a8dca_o.jpgSection001_pic20 by Vellu04, on Flickr

This is a very impressive city! I love the old fashioned buildings!

Again, I can't praise the realism enough. I want to go to this city. It being on the railway from Åbo to Helsingfors would make for a nice round-trip from here in Stockholm. An old harbour like that with a market, a park and the museum with the city enclosing it would be quite good for tourism in our region these days.

Urhontorni looks taller than everything pre-war in Stockholm. Which shows a difference between Sweden and Finland in those decades.

Will you be filling out the area with square blocks before tackling things like bridges and such?

dp

Thanks for the comments!

I really love the skyscraper architecture of North American cities, especially the fact that they have skyscrapers from many different eras in many architectural styles. That's what I want to bring to Halvoo. But I still don't want to make it look like a North American city but an Nordic city with our architectural styles, the abundant parks and a vibrant city center with residential and cultural buildings amid commercial buildings.

I will be building the city one square kilometer section at a time - with bridges and any other infrastucture - following a regular pattern from the center of the map towards the outer rim.

Here's the update:
The Old Barracks of the Imperial Russian Army from the 19th century - at that time Finland was an autonomous part of the Russian Empire - now house the offices of several cultural organisations.

https://c4.staticflickr.com/9/8183/2...35a1df34_o.jpgSection001_pic21 by Vellu04, on Flickr

Looking southwest:

https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8291/2...7d20af41_o.jpgSection001_pic22 by Vellu04, on Flickr

The area that today is known as Tehtaanpuisto park, was an industrial area up until the 1980's. Today the only reminder of its past is the former main building of the Rosenqvist textile factory, which has been converted to a cultural center and renamed Kulttuuritehdas ("Culture Factory"). The park is also a popular place for open-air concerts.

The white building in the foreground is the northernmost building of the Eteläniemi district, which was built in the 1990's and early 2000's after the South Port port facilities moved to the new Halvoo Port in 1992.

https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8118/2...5f11a54b_o.jpgSection001_pic23 by Vellu04, on Flickr

Looking northwest over Tehtaanpuisto.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7551/2...e54d5edf_o.jpgSection001_pic24 by Vellu04, on Flickr

Well done update :tup:

Awesome job! The second shot is beautiful.

Thanks for the comments!

First section is nearing completion. The building with the octagon shaped tower is Nikolainkatu 1, one of Halvoo's early high rises from the 1920's. It's 53 meters tall to the top of the spire.

https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8132/3...0a3eeda2_o.jpgSection001_pic25 by Vellu04, on Flickr

Again, well done

Thanks, Spidey!

I've now completed the first one square kilometer section (out of 100!). At this pace I'll finish the city in about 50 years :D Well, hopefully it won't take that long as I'm planning to cut back on detail after I finish the city center (the first four square kilometers).

From southwest:
https://c5.staticflickr.com/6/5488/3...edf85850_o.jpgSection001_pic26 by Vellu04, on Flickr

From northwest:
https://c6.staticflickr.com/6/5826/3...37ecd102_o.jpgSection001_pic27 by Vellu04, on Flickr

From northeast:
https://c8.staticflickr.com/6/5756/3...9c6e8822_o.jpgSection001_pic28 by Vellu04, on Flickr

From southeast:
https://c6.staticflickr.com/6/5667/3...82d8656f_o.jpgSection001_pic29 by Vellu04, on Flickr

In the context of the map:
https://c6.staticflickr.com/6/5550/3...11cb10ef_o.jpgSection001_pic30 by Vellu04, on Flickr

Congrats on finishing the first square kilometer :tup:

Great stuff!
Which square will you go for next?

Thanks for the comments!

Next I will go west.

Here's the skyline looking southwest:
https://c3.staticflickr.com/6/5808/3...82b9c712_o.jpgSection001_pic31 by Vellu04, on Flickr

Looking northwest:
https://c5.staticflickr.com/6/5478/3...b9eb68c9_o.jpgSection001_pic32 by Vellu04, on Flickr