Finland Guide
Helsinki and the south
Finlandia Hall
Opening time: Guided tours at 1pm when not in use, though dates vary
Price: €6
Telephone: 09/40 241
Website: www.finlandiatalo.fi
Website: Mannerheimintie
Designed by the country's premier architect, Alvar Aalto, a few years before his death in 1976, Finlandia Hall was conceived as part of a grand plan to rearrange the entire centre of Helsinki. Previously, Eliel Saarinen had planned a traffic route from the northern suburbs into a new square in the city centre, to be called Vapaudenkatu ("Freedom Street") in celebration of Finnish independence. Aalto plotted a continuation of this scheme, envisaging the removal of the rail-freight yards, which would enable arrivals to be greeted with a fan-like terrace of new buildings reflected in the waters of Töölönlahti. Finlandia was to be the first of these, and only by looking across from the other side of Töölönlahti do you perceive the building's soft sensuality and the potential beauty of the greater concept. Inside the hall, Aalto's characteristic wave pattern (the architect's surname, as it happens, means "wave" in Finnish) and asymmetry are in evidence. From the walls and ceilings through to the lamps and vases, the place has a quiet and graceful air – but the view from the foyer is still of the rail-freight yards, and the great plan for a future Helsinki remains under discussion.