Dipoli is a conference center located in Otaniemi

Otaniemi

Otaniemi , or Otnäs , is a district of Espoo, Finland. It is located near the border of Helsinki, the capital of Finland....

, Espoo

Espoo

Espoo is the second largest city and municipality in Finland. The population of the city of Espoo is . It is part of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area along with the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, and Kauniainen. Espoo shares its eastern border with Helsinki and Vantaa, while enclosing Kauniainen....

, Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 as a part of the campus of the Helsinki University of Technology

Helsinki University of Technology

Aalto University School of Science and Technology , was the temporary name for Helsinki University of Technology during the process of forming the Aalto University...

 (TKK).

When the TKK moved from Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

 to Espoo in the early 1960s, a design contest was held for what would become the new building for the Student Union of Helsinki University of Technology. The contest was won by Reima and Raili Pietilä

Reima and Raili Pietilä

Reima Pietilä was a Finnish architect. He did most of his work together with his wife Raili Pietilä .Reima Pietilä was professor of architecture at the University of Oulu from 1973 to 1979....

, and their 1961 design was used as the blueprint for the Dipoli building. Work began in 1965, and the building was ready for use in the fall of 1966. The name is a pun; it can mean dipole

Dipole

In physics, there are several kinds of dipoles:*An electric dipole is a separation of positive and negative charges. The simplest example of this is a pair of electric charges of equal magnitude but opposite sign, separated by some distance. A permanent electric dipole is called an electret.*A...

, but also "the second Poli", the second building of the polytechnic students

In 1993 the building was transformed into a training centre of the university due to high maintenance costs. Besides its primary role, Dipoli is still regularly used for conventions, congresses and student parties. The building houses over 20 conference rooms and auditoriums.

External links

TKK Dipoli