Note: This article was originally published on Sunday, May 14, 2017 at 12:12 in the afternoon and has been updated.
Helsinki is certainly a walkable city; but I kept seeing concrete turtles in many areas while I was there and wondered if there was any symbolism or significance to them…
…and I found what is believed to be the explanation behind their proliferation about the city, which occurred at least eighteen years ago.
The Invasion of Concrete Turtles in Helsinki: The Explanation
Established in 1878, Stara is the official construction service for the city of Helsinki which is “a versatile expert in the fields of construction, environmental management and logistics. Our approximately 1,500 professionals take care of Helsinki.” The service is responsible for building repairs, tree plantings, shrubbery plantings, constructing streets and cycling lanes — as well as keeping the city itself clean — but it also takes care of the abundant forests and meadows within the city, outdoor art and public utility services, as well as squares and plazas.
A landscape gardener employed by Stara conjured the idea for the turtles because he wanted to create some alternative concrete obstacles for traffic in Helsinki. “He wanted the alternative obstacles to be fun, and easy to use elsewhere, e.g. on playgrounds for children”, according to this article from the official Facebook Internet web site of Visit Helsinki. “The turtles were chosen as they are slow animals (hence perfect as obstacles for drivers who need to slow down), adorable and easy to pile and difficult to push over.”
Final Boarding Call
Concrete pigs, concrete cars, and concrete snails can apparently also be found around Helsinki; but I had not seen them — at least, not in as much abundance as those concrete turtles, which vary in color but not necessarily in size or shape.
The concrete reptiles in Helsinki provide a form of ersatz entertainment for many visitors — including the boy you see mounting one at Market Square in the photograph at the top of this article — and they have collectively become one of the tourist attractions in the city.
Photograph ©2017 by Brian Cohen.
