Helsinki's Architectural Jewels (Self Guided), Helsinki

The National Theatre has been an integral part of Finnish national culture since the 1800s. It got its start in 1872 in Pori. Today, it is located in the north-central section of Helsinki, near the Central Railway Station. It is the oldest known theater of its kind that does performances in Finnish. Up until the year 1902, it was simply called the Finnish Theater.

The current building was completed in 1902 and was done in a Romantic architecture style. At this point in history, the whole country was undergoing a cultural movement which came to be known as Romantic Nationalism, as the people sought to preserve their cultural identity against outside pressure.

Just outside the front entrance is a statue of the famous Aleksis Kivi, who is known for his Romantic novels and short stories. Along with the theater, the arts were used as a way to try to stand up to the oppression of the Russian Empire of the day.

Today the theater travels to many foreign locations but has not lost its central purpose of maintaining the drama of Finland. So, you can see their kind of avant-garde style of international drama set alongside productions that are designed to continue Finnish language performances. Go if you get the chance and take in a performance.

Why You Should Visit:
Very architecturally pleasing, photogenic, and the smaller stage productions bring the magic.

On Rautatientori square, close to the Helsinki Central rail stations, lies Ateneum. It is one of three museums that form the Finnish National Gallery. The other two are the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art and the Sinebrychoff Art Museum.

The museum gallery focuses on Finnish art from the 18th to the 20th centuries. There are also 650 or so international works, including one piece by Vincent van Gogh.

The building was designed by Theodor Höijer and built in 1887. The heavily ornamented exterior includes busts of famous artists like Raphael. Four female figures support the pediment, each representing one of the four classical art forms—architecture, painting, sculpture, and geometry. Above, the Goddess of Art, Pallas Athene, blesses the artworks.

Ateneum has rotating exhibitions in addition to their permanent collection, and they offer Saturday workshops with museum admission. The gallery is closed on Mondays. There's a museum shop on the property as well.

Why You Should Visit:
One of the best art museums in the Nordics, and certainly recommendable if you want to have a look at the most famous Finnish pieces of art. The well-stocked shop is an excellent place for postcards and tasteful gifts from Helsinki. The bistro serves excellent Finnish food in an inspiring setting.

The Central Railway Station is one of the most visited and well-known sites in the city. There are over two hundred thousand passengers that pass through this place every day. On that basis, it is the single busiest building in the whole country.

The whole complex of rails in the country was started in 1860 when the first track was opened for business between Helsinki and Hameenlinna, a city 100 kilometer north of Helsinki. The first station here was designed by Carl Edelfelt. The station's popularity grew through the years, and so the location had to be renovated multiple times. The last such renovation was completed in 2003 when a shopping center was added to the complex.

One little known tidbit about this station is the Presidential Lounge. This private 50-square-meter waiting lounge is available for exclusive use of the President of Finland and his/her official guests. It was first built for the Emperor of Russia in 1911. After a short stint as a military hospital, it has been the private lounge for the President ever since. It is the only such structure known in the world.

Tip:
Underneath the station, there is a multitude of shops, including supermarkets, and also a walkway over to the other side of Kaivokatu street, which gets you into downtown.

The Kamppi Chapel is a non-denominational spot for people to seek sanctuary from busy Helsinki's hustle and bustle. The striking building is found in Narinkka Square. It's oval on the outside and inside and is often described as neutral, austere, or unadorned. It is similar in that way to many multi-faith prayer rooms found around the world.

But just because it is minimalist does not mean that the building is not noteworthy. It was built as part of the World Design Capital program, which Helsinki won in 2012. The Chapel won the International Architecture Award in 2010.

The Chapel of Silence is located right in one of Helsinki's busiest areas, which is part of its charm. Many visitors say they wish more cities had spots like this; it's an uplifting place to slow down and disconnect from the busy world.

Amos Rex stems from The Amos Anderson Art Museum which was established in 1965 and named after publisher and arts patron Amos Anderson. It specializes in modern Finnish art, spanning the 20th-21st centuries.

In 2013, the AAAM announced plans to build a subterranean annex under Lasipalatsi plaza, near its main location on Yrjönkatu. The annex was also to use the above-ground facilities in the Lasipalatsi building. The design was done by JKMM Architects, whose other works included the Turku Main Library and the Finnish pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.

The new project symbolized an intriguing link between the past (albeit not so distant) and the present. Placed beneath Lasipalatsi square, the ultra-modern edifice, complete with its entrances and foyers, administrative offices and the Bio Rex cinema, meant to bring out the new century's sculptural form onto the site just as resolutely as the square itself did back in the 1930s.

The construction started in January 2016 and the new complex opened its doors in August 2018. It turned out to be quite roomy thanks to the vaulted domes dominating the complex and making it pillar-free on the inside. Cast in reinforced concrete, right on the site, their shape is structurally optimal and crucially important for adding flexibility to the space. The skylights intentionally open onto recognizable details of the surroundings, such as the chimney in the middle of the square, and thus attain the desired connection between the subterranean complex and the city above.

The museum rapidly reached international popularity, having attracted in the course of just few weeks since its opening more than 10,000 visitors. There are in total over 7,000 exhibits here, including the works of such famous Finnish artists as Magnus Enckell and Felix Nylund, as well as Carlstedt, Finch, and Salokivi, among others.

Kiasma is Helsinki’s museum of contemporary art. The name refers to the part of the eye, called the chiasma, where the optic nerves curves in the brain. This apparently inspired the interesting shape of the building, which was built in the late 1990s. It is a perfect shape for a museum that holds works by contemporary artists.

The galleries within the building are all of different sizes, with each room having a gently curved wall. The angular nature of the ambient light available in the northern latitudes also adds to the ambiance and makes for a wonderful backdrop to view the artwork. In 2016, Kiasma attracted over 310,000 visitors.

In addition to collected works of art, there are also traveling exhibits, lectures, theater, music and all sorts of adventures into contemporary art. It is truly an adventure for the senses. There is also a gift store, café, and a research library.

Why You Should Visit:
While it's worth going to this great museum for its exquisite architecture alone, the exhibitions can be quite interesting and it feels like the curators do try to bring in many different artists/storytellers.
Some exhibits are more confronting than others but overall a unique way to experience the art culture in Helsinki. As a bonus, the shop has some great souvenirs and gift ideas on offer.

Tip:
The museum has no permanent collection, so be sure to check what's actually on show.

The Pikkuparlamentti is an annex to the official governmental building of Finland. It is a fairly new structure, as far as buildings go in town, having been completed in June of 2004. Pekka Helin & Co did the design.

It is 11 stories tall and contains a total of 295 offices. From an architectural point of view, you will want to visit the atrium and the small meeting rooms that surround it. Each of the little spaces is done in a different kind of native wood, which is really striking. Finnish bedrock was also used in the construction of the floor.

You will also want to visit the restaurant that is located on the first floor. It has some of the best food in town, and is fairly reasonable in price for a slightly upscale location. So it is worth a stop.

There is also a new Visitor’s Center located in the new annex. You can see a very good informative video here about the workings of the Finnish Government, as well as receive info on the MP’s. It is open on Monday–Friday 9 a.m.–4 p.m

The Parliament House is the official location of the governing body of Finland. It is located in Helsinki, in the Toolo District. Completed in 1931, this is where the history of the country has been made. You can almost feel that as you enter. Moreover, the place houses one of the best art collections in town.

From an architectural point of view, the building is a hybrid mix of neoclassical and 20th Century modernistic style design. Note the simple design of the columns and balusters; yet, the fourteen columns on the outside are topped with Corinthian capitals. The marble staircases are also quite lovely... so, you get a bit of both visual worlds.

There is also a visitor’s center that has been built in the annex to the house. It is the first such office opened to the public. If you would like to see the whole building, however, you are able to book a guided tour.

Why You Should Visit:
The cubic style and towering pink columns are probably like no other building you have ever seen and it is well worth taking a stroll to admire all the little features.

The Helsinki Music Centre is a concert hall and a music center in Töölönlahti, Helsinki. The building is home to Sibelius Academy and two symphony orchestras, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Music Centre is located on a prestigious site between Finlandia Hall and the museum of contemporary art Kiasma, and across the street from the Parliament of Finland. The vineyard-type main concert hall seats 1,704 people. The building contains five smaller rooms for 140–400 listeners. These include a chamber music hall, a chamber opera hall, an organ hall, a 'black box' room for electrically amplified music and a rehearsal hall.

Helsinki Music Centre is a good example of Helsinki’s modernist architecture The site is highly challenging from a design standpoint, as all of the neighboring buildings are architectural landmarks of central national importance in Finland, and they represent a wide range of different architectural styles and periods. The winning entry in the architecture competition by LPR Architects was titled "A Mezza Voce", referring to an understated building that aims to unify the surroundings, as opposed to competing with them with a grand architectural gesture.

A large part of the Music Centre's considerable volume is placed underground in order to keep the roof of the building in line with its neighbors. A wide, sloping, landscaped terrace covers the underground structure and forms a part of an open park in front of the Parliament House. The large glass-walled foyer opens to the park. Unconventionally, the walls of the main concert hall are partly glass at the foyer level, allowing daylight from the foyer into the concert hall itself. The glass walls can be closed with curtains located in between the glass elements if daylight is not desired during a performance.

Chief architect Marko Kivistö has stated that the forms of the outside are deliberately simple, leaving the building to reveal a more varied and dramatic interior. The green color of the copper facade is designed to connect the building with the surrounding lawns and parks. The building aims to provide a frame for, and a new view at the more expressive curved shape of the museum of contemporary art, Kiasma, which stands across the park from the Centre.

The National Museum of Finland recounts Finnish history, from the Stone Age to the present day. Its building is one of the most remarkable examples of the Finnish national romanticism. The latter is notable for the grey granite stonework and green tinged copper roof seen in the medieval churches and castles throughout the country. The interior is mainly art nouveau.

Designed by the architect firm Herman Gesellius, Armas Lindgren and Eliel Saarinen, the museum took five years to build, from 1905 to 1910, and opened to the public in 1916. It was named the Finnish National Museum only after Finland's independence in 1917. Bullet holes from the Civil War that erupted a few years later are still visible in the museum doors. The main entrance is notable for the famous ceiling frescoes depicting scenes from the national epic poem Kalevala, painted by Akseli Gallen-Kallela.

The museum's permanent exhibition is divided into sections, such as coins, medals, decorations, silver, jewellery and weaponry. 'The Prehistory of Finland' displays a collection of antiquity dating back to the Stone Age. There are also exhibits on the history of Finland from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century, including the Swedish Kingdom Period and the Russian Empire Era preceding the age of industrial revolution.

One of the favorite exhibits within the museum is the hands-on, interactive VINTTI section. Among other features, it offers preview to all the six permanent exhibition sections.

Why You Should Visit:
The entire museum is quite engaging. This engagement will keep you there for a while as you go through the different periods of Finland, rising from the bottom of a sea to what it is today.

Tips:
The exhibits are extensive, so allow yourself at least 3-4 hours to see all.
Easy to spend the whole day with a family, as there is a restaurant on site. Younger guests must be accompanied by an adult at all time.

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.