The new Jääkärinkangas Community Centre will be finished in Hiukkavaara, by the interjection of Haapalehdontie and Raitotie, in late 2026. The coming comprehensive school for over 800 students is currently Oulu’s largest school project. It will also include youth facilities, a daycare centre for 12 groups, a library, a multi-purpose hall, and operations of Oulu-opisto and the city’s Community Services. The building will be open to users in January of 2027.
The Oulu-based Sculptor and Graphic Artist Kari Södö (born 1963) was chosen in 2025 as the implementer of the Jääkärinkangas Community Centre’s percent for art piece. He presented his draft to the project’s percent for art committee in August of 2025. In late October, the committee saw the piece’s miniature in Södö’s workshop in Pikisaari.
The piece carries the working title Kohti yhteistä ymmärrystä (Fin. Towards shared understanding) and will be suspended in the building’s central lobby’s over 10-meter-high ceiling. The lobby serves as the building’s dining room and multi-purpose hall with a connection to the stage area and stairways. Södö’s art piece consists of hanging acrylic-painted and lacquered wooden pieces arranged according to the ceiling’s shape. The ladder-esque formations, that resemble children and young people, symbolize growth, learning, journeys, and achieving goals. The ladders of different sizes lean onto vertical columns that represent stability, security, strength, and boldness. According to Södö, the columns represent the building’s personnel and professionals of different fields. The piece’s warm, colorful, and playful form of expression combines geometric and organic shapes. Numbers, words, and letters are found on the piece’s surfaces as is usual in Södö’s style. Some are easier to read, whereas some require a keen eye.
Kari Södö is known as a bass player and a member of the popular Screaming Men’s Choir. He has created art pieces in Oulu, Liminka, Tornio, and Tampere. The piece coming to the Jääkärinkangas Community Centre will be his first percent for art commission with the city of Oulu.