Kiinteistö Oy Kaapelitalo, KAAPELI, is a property management company owned by the City of Helsinki. We own, renovate and rent out old industrial buildings for artistic and cultural purposes.
Since 1992 we have owned the Cable Factory cultural centre in Helsinki’s Ruoholahti district. Since 2008 we have owned the buildings of the former power plant and gasworks area in Suvilahti, and since the start of 2020 we have owned N10, located at Nilsiänkatu 10 in Vallila, which is the former head office and production plant of the Orion pharmaceutical company. In 2021 Dance House Helsinki was completed next to the Cable Factory.
In total, we manage almost 100,000 square metres at three locations around Helsinki. Our company additionally owns the subsidiary Kaapeli Media Centre Ltd, which provides services for our tenants.
Networks we are involved in
We are members of several European collaborative networks:
- Trans Europe Halles - a network of 90 independent cultural centres around Europe. Read more about TEH
- ECHN - European Creative Hubs Network comprises over 80 creative hubs. Read more about ECHN
- ECBN - European Creative Business Network is an independent foundation with 175 members in 44 countries. Read more about ECBN
Our projects
We are involved in various experiments and research projects, through which we try to find new approaches and challenging old ones. Here are a few examples of our most recent collaborations:
- KAAPELI coordinates the ARMAS festival, a nationwide festival of art and culture held annually in October that celebrates older age. The ARMAS network has over 60 members: artists, operators in the artistic field, organisations in senior work and municipal actors. ARMAS was held for the first time in 2017. Read more about the ARMAS festival
- LIFT Festival was an adventurous culture, media and art event at the Cable Factory that welcomed all those interested in the topics. LIFT was held in 2018 and 2019. The event was organised by the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE and Kiinteistö Oy Kaapelitalo and their partners. Read more about LIFT
- Cultural and Creative Spaces and Cities (CCSC) (2018-2021) was a joint culture policy project with 10 partners that examined the challenges of influencing at the local level and sought solutions for increasing participation by urban residents. Read more about CCSC
- As part of the CCSC project, KAAPELI launched the Occupy the Cable Factory! experiment in 2019, with Merikaapelihalli as far as possible free to be occupied by dancers, performing art practitioners, professionals or anyone else. Read more: Valtaa Kaapelitehdas vol.2! (Press release 18.2.2020, only in Finnish.)
- The four-year Creative Lenses project (2015-2019) developed new operating and financing models for cultural organisations. Read more about Creative Lenses
- Vekotinverstas (Gadget Workshop) was a workshop open to all in 2018-2019 where city dwellers and companies could try out and build various Internet of Things applications and devices with expert guidance. Vekotinverstas was set up by the City of Helsinki’s innovation unit Forum Virium Helsinki and KAAPELI. Read more about Vekotinverstas (only in Finnish)
