As Finland switched to wintertime on Sunday, 25 October, amid shortening days, Helsinki demonstrates how thoughtfully designed light can enhance everyday urban life. From permanent light artworks integrated into architecture and public spaces in Kruunuvuorenranta, the city’s “district of light”, to festive illuminations and the annual Lux Helsinki light art festival, the city embraces the darker season with light that enriches urban life.
In Helsinki, where the changing seasons bring dramatic shifts in daylight, light plays an important role in everyday urban life. Beyond functional illumination, the city integrates permanent light art into architecture and public spaces, making art accessible to residents throughout the year.
Kruunuvuorenranta brings this approach into full view. Known as the “district of light”, the neighbourhood has been designed so that illumination shapes its architecture, landscape and shoreline routes from the outset. The aim is to create a safe, welcoming and distinctive urban environment while avoiding unnecessary or obtrusive light. Most installations are funded through the City’s Percent for Art principle, which allocates approximately one per cent of public construction budgets to art integrated into the built environment. In Kruunuvuorenranta, the principle is applied at block level. The neighbourhood will also become more accessible from central Helsinki on 7 November 2026, when tram services begin operating across the new Kruunuvuorensilta bridge, connecting Laajasalo to the city’s expanding tram network.
“In addition to the normal design process, every block under construction in Kruunuvuorenranta goes through a light art concept review. Sometimes that requires further development to ensure the work fits the block, its surroundings and the natural environment. We emphasise durability and controllability in lighting. Designers and developers must also ensure that the works do not create obtrusive light,” says Marjut Kauppinen, Lighting Manager for the City of Helsinki.
An open-air gallery of light art
Permanent light artworks and illuminated waterfront paths are integrated into streets, courtyards and green spaces. Along the shoreline, the Path of Light connects residential areas to the sea, creating an open-air gallery that can be experienced as part of everyday life.
One of the district’s landmarks is Öljysäiliö 468, a 16-metre-high former oil tank transformed into an illuminated artwork, visible from across Kruunuvuorenselkä.
Another notable work is Long daylight pavilion by internationally renowned artist Olafur Eliasson, his first public artwork in Finland. Commissioned by the City of Helsinki and curated by HAM Helsinki Art Museum, the installation in Wiirinkallio consists of 24 illuminated poles extending from land into the sea. Their arrangement reflects the sun’s path across Helsinki’s sky on the longest day of the year, while lights shining through diamond-shaped openings trace its trajectory after dark. The artwork reveals its full brilliance during the darkest months of the year.
Light throughout the darker months
Beyond Kruunuvuorenranta, light brings Helsinki’s public spaces to life during the darker months. The festive season begins with the traditional opening of Helsinki’s Christmas Street, when Christmas lights illuminate Aleksanterinkatu, one of the city’s main shopping streets.
From 30 December 2026 to 6 January 2027, the free Lux Helsinki light art festival brings 14 installations to the city centre under the theme Light between the worlds. The festival’s centrepiece transforms the iconic Senate Square and its surrounding architecture through light, colour and music. The eight-day programme also features student light art at Wanha Satama, guided tours and other activities.
While seasonal events bring temporary moments of light and colour, permanent artworks remain part of Helsinki’s urban landscape year-round, reflecting the city’s approach to light as a means of shaping public spaces and enriching everyday life.
