Architecture in Helsinki
The architecture of Helsinki is worth studying, and it is also easy because most of the major buildings are located within a walking distance from each other. The sights presented are also introduced in the Walking in Helsinki guide available at the Helsinki City Tourist Office.
This list has been compiled by architect Jukka vesanen, www.taivasalla.com.
Seurasaari Open-Air Museum
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Senaatintori Square
The Senaatintori Square is the most well-known symbol of Helsinki, and one of the most popular tourist sites of the city. The square was created in the early 19th century by City Planning Engineer Johan Albrecht Ehrenström and architect Carl Ludvig Engel. When designing the new square, Ehrenström used influences from other neo-classical squares in Europe, most of all the Gustav Adolf Square in Stockholm. Ehrenström focused on symmetry. The dimensions of the north side of the square had to be symmetrical, and the facades of buildings placed on the east and west sides of the square also needed to be symmetrical. The last Senaatintori Square building to be completed was the Grand Cathedral located on top of rocks at the north side of the square. Engel designed the church for a decade, finishing the style to make it as elegant and simplified as possible. The church’s appearance clearly changed during the construction work that started in 1830 and lasted for two decades, however. Based on an order of the Czar and to the annoyance of Engel, a monumental staircase was erected in front of the church, and the designed main guard building was demolished to make room for the staircase.
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Helsinki University Library
Designed by Carl Ludvig Engel in 1836, the empire-style library was completed in 1840 at one corner of the Senaatintori Square. The Russian Czar Nicholas I approved Engel’s proposal based on monumental classicism to be constructed. The three large halls of the University Library are an unparallel entity in Finnish architecture. An extension to the library, the Rotunda, was constructed in 1907. It was designed by architect Gustaf Nyström. The University Library has been considered one of Finland’s most beautiful buildings.
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Helsinki Railway Station
A design competition was arranged for the Helsinki Railway Station in 1904. Among the twenty-one proposals submitted, Eliel Saarinen’s was chosen to be implemented. The construction process of the railway station took fifteen years, and it was inaugurated on 5 March 1919. The construction material of the facade was Finnish granite. The building’s signature features include a bell tower and the Lyhdynkantajat (Lantern Bearers) designed by Emil Wikström that support the main entrance lamps. The bell tower of the station building is 3.3 metres in diameter. The tower is 48 metres tall when measured from the street level. The minute hand is 1.5 metres tall and weighs 60 kg. The hour hand is one metre long and weighs 40 kg. The tower includes a balcony facing to each direction.
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Contemporary Art Museum Kiasma
Contemporary Art Museum Kiasma has been designed by American architect Steven Holl. The design is based on ideas about the golden ratio, a Zen-like serenity and the human scale. All building engineering elements are hidden inside the wall structures, and light sources are inside light pockets. This makes the light indirect, and it evenly spreads into the exhibition rooms. The simplified approach can also be seen in the materials selected: the interior walls are plastered white, there are no washboards, and the reinforced concrete has been painted black. Some of the exhibition room walls are curved or askew in relation to the open space. The plan – that was successfully implemented – was for the rooms to be rough. This is characteristics of places where modern art is at its best. All visible special light fixtures have been manufactured based on Steven Holl’s drafts. He has designed the sand-blasted aluminium lamps and the “flowing ice” on the ceiling of the museum café, for example.
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Parliament House
Built as the monument of independence and democracy, the Parliament House is a complete piece of art where architecture, design, handicraft and visual arts create a unified entity based on the architectural terms. Indoors, the details also include simplified functionalism and decorative art deco elements. Sirén has also designed the furniture, light fixtures and several other details in the most important rooms. The plan was to use mostly Finnish materials in the interior elements. The furniture are manufactured from flamy and curly birch stained dark brown, oak and hazel. The furniture in the assembly hall and the Speaker of the Parliament are manufactured from South African jacaranda, however. |
Finnish National Museum
The architecture of the building includes influences of Finnish churches and castles from the Middle Ages as well as global art nouveau, especially in the entrance hall. The museum was opened for the public in 1916. The latest renovation was completed in 2000. |
Finlandia House
The building is not the creation of a functionalist but, quite the opposite, a combination of decorative cubistic forms which create a versatile entity. None of the elements are merely decorative: Aalto still remained loyal to his functionalist principles. He always sought practical motives for the forms he used. The leading idea of the Finlandia House is a tower-like part that includes a slanted roof over the entire building. Aalto believed that the acoustic solution would be better if he left an empty echo space above the hall. |
Olympic Stadium
The stadium tower is 72 metres tall. The stadium building is 243 metres tall and 159 metres wide at its widest point. The stadium also includes a Sports Museum and a lodge designed by Toivo Jäntti. |
Temppeliaukio Church
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Uspensky Cathedral
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In the Seurasaari Open-Air Museum, visitors can study old construction methods typical for the various Finnish provinces starting from the 17th century. When walking in the traditional yard areas, you will experience the traditional lifestyle of the past centuries. The area also includes a wooden church from the 17th century and a manor from the 18th century.
Designed by Johan Sigfrid Sirén, the Parliament House has been part of the Finnihs national landscape and identity since 1931. It was built in 1926–1931. The Parliament House is a classic 1920s building. It is 25 metres tall and its volume is 107,965 cubic metres. The facade includes fourteen columns with stylised Corinthian tops.
The national romantic Finnish National Museum building was designed by architects Herman Gesellius, Armas Lindgren and Eliel Saarinen. Completed in 1910, the building’s entrance hall ceiling includes frescoes with motifs from the Finnish national epic Kalevala, painted by Akseli Gallen-Kallela. The frescoes were painted in 1928, and they were modelled based on frescoes painted by Gallen-Kallela for the Finnish Pavilion at the Paris World Exhibition of 1900.
Designed by architect Alvar Aalto, the Finlandia House was completed in 1971. It is a magnificent piece of art, with all the details – even the door handles and light fixtures – designed by Aalto. The Finlandia House includes several details which Alvar Aalto designed during his lifetime of working with monumental buildings.
The central arena of the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, the Olympic Stadium, is Finland’s largest sports venue. Designed by Yrjö Lindegren and Toivo Jäntti, the stadium was built in several stages. The construction of the functionalistic stadium started in 1934, and the first construction stage was completed four years later, in 1938.
The Temppeliaukio Church in Töölö, Helsinki is one of the finest modern Finnish churches. Designed in 1961 by architects Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen, the church was inaugurated in 1969. Since then, it has been one of the most popular architectural sights in Helsinki. The church has been excavated into the bedrock, and the light to the church hall comes from a line of large windows close to the ceiling. The acoustic elements are excellent because the church is manufactured from stone.
The red brick Uspensky Cathedral is the largest orthodox church outside of Eastern Europe. Completed in 1868, the church has been designed by famous church architect Aleksey M. Gornostajev. The thirteen gilded cupolas of the church depict Christ and His twelve apostles. There is also one gilded cupola in the form of a flame on the bell tower. The church’s name is derived from the Slavic word uspenie meaning death. 
