Finlandia Hall, Helsinki

Located in central Helsinki, Finlandia Hall is the proverbial Las Vegas Show Center of Finland as it is host to many of the finest conferences, concerts and art exhibits you will find anywhere in town. If you plan on coming to Helsinki, you will want to get a list of what is happening there right away. Thousands of people visit it each year. The largest hall can seat 1700 people.

Designed to be similar to the concert hall in Essen, the building is an architectural thing of beauty. Asymmetry is prominently featured not only for beauty but for the acoustics. The marble used in the floors is also quite striking against the cobalt blue walls. The exterior is done in curved slabs of marble.

The interior design of the building is a tribute to detail. The design of each lamp, piece of furniture, panel, flooring material and decorative board reflects the mature approach resulting from Alvar Aalto’s long career as an architect. All the materials speak the language of nature, simply without technically artificial tones. This is because Aalto’s basic view was that architecture should create a frame for human beings. In the Finlandia Hall, the focus is not on extraordinary forms or ostentatious interior, but on the audience and on the performers. According to Aalto, the audience at the Finlandia Hall need not dress up like people used to in the opera foyers and gilded concert halls of the old days. What people wear should be as genuine and natural as the environment in the building.

Why You Should Visit:
The architecture is fantastic, the location by the lake is superb, and the café downstairs – Veranda – is worth a visit.
Inside, the space is not really set up for self-guided tourists to enjoy, but there are guided tours during the week.