Fyyri Library, the public living room of Kirkkonummi
in ARCHITETTURA | architecture
© francesco pontalti I Fyyri Library.
Libraries are no longer simple repositories of books but true “public living rooms” where knowledge intertwines with everyday life. Their function has expanded: today they are porous spaces capable of hosting study, meetings, play, informal work, and moments of community. In an age where information is everywhere and urban loneliness is on the rise; the library becomes an essential social infrastructure — a place where architecture builds proximity and exchange. Here, experiences are shared, skills are learned, and new forms of coexistence are tested: a civic laboratory that goes beyond the logic of service to become an environment of belonging, open, inclusive, and woven into daily life.
© francesco pontalti I Fyyri Library.
In Kirkkonummi, a town of 40,000 inhabitants on the outskirts of Helsinki, JKMM embraces this transformation with clarity. The project — 4,700 m² of public architecture — is a virtuous example of adaptive reuse: the concrete structure of the 1980s library is preserved and reconfigured according to contemporary standards and functions. The building redesigns its relationship with the medieval stone church and the outdoor market, strengthening the civic heart of the community. The dialogue with the church becomes the fulcrum of the project: a 50‑metre covered terrace opens toward the churchyard, transforming the library into a new urban belvedere. The copper shingle cladding of the new Fyyri recalls the local maritime landscape, intertwining material memory and territorial identity.
© JKMM I Model, floor plans and cross section. A adult’s section; B children’s section; C young adults’ section; D magazines; E café; F event space; G exhibition space; H reading stairs; I storytelling room; J young adults’ gaming; K workshop; L workshop kitchen; M meeting room; N media; O studio and music room; P silent reading space.
JKMM doubles the volume of the building and articulates it into a sequence of community‑oriented spaces: rooms for early childhood, areas for young people, exhibition spaces, and venues for events and performances. On the ground floor, the café opens onto a 198 m² reading lounge dedicated to newspapers and periodicals. The reading rooms reinterpret the Finnish modernist tradition, elevating the act of learning through carefully designed interiors and warm materials. Custom lighting with brass finishes introduces a measured sense of dignity, while the same material — used in entrances and railings — intuitively guides visitors and creates a tactile counterpoint to the concrete surfaces that define the architecture.
© francesco pontalti I Fyyri Library.
Operational since 2020, Fyyri belongs to the new generation of Finnish libraries, a typological evolution that JKMM has helped shape since the Turku Library project in 2007 and through the extensions of two libraries by Alvar Aalto. This research emerges in the large reading hall, a space defined by concrete pillars and beams that filter natural light like a forest, generating a rarefied and contemplative atmosphere. The interior palette, inspired by the coastal landscape, combines soft tones, wool, and felt, while a site‑specific artwork by Petri Vainio in the foyer evokes a bed of reeds. Slatted wooden walls and ceilings continue the architectural logic of the building, dissolving the boundary between architecture and interior design. The building is designed to be welcoming and intimate, offering nexpected spaces, niches, and small refuges — perfect even for the youngest visitors. For Kirkkonummi, Fyyri represents a strategic civic infrastructure at a time of demographic growth and new commuter flows toward Helsinki. The care devoted to the interiors — a central part of the commission — reflects the municipality’s intention to offer citizens a place that embodies values of inclusion, well‑being, and cultural continuity.
© francesco pontalti I Fyyri Library.