Suvilahti DIY became one of Malmö local’s favorite spots
Photos: Keke Leppälä
Words: Pauliina Toivanen
Against all the odds, Suvilahti DIY keeps on evolving and delivering. Even though the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland did not give in to the skaters’ complaints and held its decision to demolish the biggest DIY of the Nordics, the community finished yet another massive transition and is carousing the annual Södervik Mästare championships once again this July.
After all, playing against time makes the vibe of an urban free space even more irresistible and irreplaceable.
Last year, even the Malmö locals couldn’t resist the call of the annual championships of Suvilahti echoing across the Baltic Sea to the shores of Sweden. The Swedish name of the event, meaning Suvilahti Champion, materialized and capitalized once Oski Rozenberg and Axel Berggren dominated the Death Race and ended up battling against each other in the finals. Both slammed amid the race, Oski outrivaling Axel at last.
Vincent Huhta reminded Oski that the first time the two competed against each other was more than a decade ago in Nacka in Stockholm. Oski was 12 years old, Axel was 9. It was Oski’s first contest ever.
This was Oski’s first time visiting his neighboring country. Here’s what he thought of it.
Why did you want to come to Finland?
I have only had layovers in Helsinki and have wanted to come here for so long. I have good friends here and have seen skate videos and crazy footage from here. The skating looks insane. My friends Axel, Vincent, and Tor (Ström) were coming. I found out at the last minute and decided to go too.
How would you describe Suvilahti compared to other DIYs you have skated?
It’s probably one of the best ones I’ve been to. It’s a fun one because it’s so easy to skate, but there is hard shit too. Hullet in Malmö, Rest in Peace, is still the best DIY in the world, and this one is second.
What kind of a role did DIY parks play in your life when you were young?
When I was growing up in Malmö, we had the Hullet, which Pontus (Alv) and, a bunch of others built, and TBS by the same crew, another sick one there. I was skating in those with a crew that doesn’t skate as much anymore. Unfortunately, two of them passed away, and a couple stopped skating. I have memories from those places that I keep in my heart.
Did you build anything there yourself?
At Hullet, I tried once. I was a kid and looked like a baby. I was nervous because the guys were gnarly, drinking beer, screaming, and peer-pressuring me to do shit. They were nice but gnarly, and I was tripping out. I fucked it up – obviously. They started calling that transition a kink. That’s the only time I remember helping to build.
Why do you think it’s valuable for a city to have a DIY?
Suvilahti DIY is such a good example of it. This one is like a skatepark but also a meet-up point. When you have these events every year, you form a connection to the place. The city should recognize that tourists also come here to make memories and that skaters continue to build it for all of us. It doesn’t make sense to tear it down. If they keep it, it could have the same effect as in Malmö, where the city supports skateboarding and proactively builds more skateparks. The whole scene started blooming based on Malmö’s DIY culture.
What makes you the most hyped when skating?
I don’t watch skating that much online when I’m traveling. What makes me most hyped is seeing people skate in real life, especially when I see my friends pushing it. I can’t skate by myself. I’ve been into situations where I’ve had to train skateboarding if I’ve had a contest coming up. If I need to be good at skating and I try to go training, I swear I can’t do it. I need at least one friend to get me in the mood.
And last but not least, what conditioner do you use for your gorgeous hair?
I forgot the name, it’s a green one. I have the same shampoo and conditioner. I got them from where I cut my hair. She told me which ones to get.
All the legal ways to save Suvilahti DIY have now been checked and blocked. However, there is still hope. An American filmmaker and impact journalist April Jones, known for her Concrete Law Film documenting the saving of the Channel Street Skatepark, offered her persuasion skills to the Finnish skaters and has been pressing the decision-makers of Helsinki with questions on their efforts to protect not only Suvilahti but also other free urban spaces in Finland.
“I refuse to believe that decisions made by the city council are the best for the skate community when the community feels like they’re not being heard. I believe in the power of storytelling and asking the right questions, we can create change from the bottom up for our global DIY skate fam,” April states.
Regardless of what the future holds, the naturally enlarging Suvilahti DIY is teaching the Finnish authoritatives something they have yet to grasp. You can not build authentic and creative urban areas with money and by sticking to outdated formulas. And, as Cody Lockwood, the two-time Södervik Mästare, said:
“You can destroy our efforts, but you can’t destroy our stoke.”
Snapshots of the construction site
Whenever you disrupt the natural flow of things, nothing good comes out of it. But if you let things derive instinctively, unimaginable goodness transpires. Eventually, the authoritatives will see it too – hopefully, before spending a fortune on trying to build something they already had.
Text: Pauliina Toivanen
Photos: Keke Leppälä
Södervik Mästare 6.0 video by Teemu Korhonen & co.