Eduskuntatalo
Encyclopedia
Parliament House is the seat of the Parliament of Finland
. It is located in the Finnish
capital of Helsinki
, in the district of Töölö
.
, was chosen as the best site.
The architectural competition which was held in 1924 was won by the firm of Borg–Sirén–Åberg with a proposal called Oratoribus (Latin for "for the speakers"). Johan Sigfrid Sirén (1889–1961), who was mainly responsible for preparing the proposal, was given the task of designing Parliament House. The building was constructed 1926–1931 and was officially inaugurated on March 7, 1931. Ever since then, and especially during the Winter War
and Continuation War
, it has been the scene of many key moments in the nation's political life.
Sirén designed Parliament House in an architectural style combining Neoclassicism
with early twentieth century modernism. Sirén's combination of simplified columns and balusters with simplified planar geometry bears comparison to similar explorations by Erik Gunnar Asplund and Jože Plečnik
. The exterior is red Kalvola
granite
. The façade
is lined by fourteen columns with Corinthian capitals
.
The building has five floors, each of which is unique. The floors are connected by a white marble staircase and famous paternoster
lifts. Most important for visitors are the main lobby, the stately Session Hall and the large Hall of State.
Notable later additions to the building are the library annex completed in 1978 and a separate office block, the Pikkuparlamentti
(Little Parliament), the necessity of which was an object of some controversy, completed in 2004.
Parliament of Finland
The Eduskunta , is the parliament of Finland. The unicameral parliament has 200 members and meets in the Parliament House in Helsinki. The latest election to the parliament took place on April 17, 2011.- Constitution :...
. It is located in the Finnish
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...
capital of 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...
, in the district of Töölö
Töölö
Töölö is the collective name for the neighbourhoods Etu-Töölö and Taka-Töölö in Helsinki, Finland. The neighbourhoods are located next to the city centre, occupying the western side of the Helsinki Peninsula....
.
History
In 1923 a competition was held to choose a site for a new Parliament House. Arkadianmäki, a hill beside what is now MannerheimintieMannerheimintie
Mannerheimintie , or Mannerheimvägen , named after the Finnish military leader and statesman Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, is one of the most famous streets in Helsinki, Finland. It was originally named Heikinkatu , after Robert Henrik Rehbinder, but was renamed after the Winter War...
, was chosen as the best site.
The architectural competition which was held in 1924 was won by the firm of Borg–Sirén–Åberg with a proposal called Oratoribus (Latin for "for the speakers"). Johan Sigfrid Sirén (1889–1961), who was mainly responsible for preparing the proposal, was given the task of designing Parliament House. The building was constructed 1926–1931 and was officially inaugurated on March 7, 1931. Ever since then, and especially during the Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
and Continuation War
Continuation War
The Continuation War was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.At the time of the war, the Finnish side used the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War...
, it has been the scene of many key moments in the nation's political life.
Architecture and features
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
with early twentieth century modernism. Sirén's combination of simplified columns and balusters with simplified planar geometry bears comparison to similar explorations by Erik Gunnar Asplund and Jože Plečnik
Jože Plecnik
Jože Plečnik , was a Slovene architect who practised in Vienna, Belgrade, Prague and Ljubljana.-Biography:...
. The exterior is red Kalvola
Kalvola
Kalvola is a former municipality of Finland. Its seat was in Iittala. It was consolidated with Hämeenlinna on 2009-01-01.It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Tavastia Proper region. The municipality had a population of 3,449 and covered an area of 338.81 km² of...
granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
. The façade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
is lined by fourteen columns with Corinthian capitals
Corinthian order
The Corinthian order is one of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric and Ionic. When classical architecture was revived during the Renaissance, two more orders were added to the canon, the Tuscan order and the Composite order...
.
The building has five floors, each of which is unique. The floors are connected by a white marble staircase and famous paternoster
Paternoster
A paternoster or paternoster lift is a passenger elevator which consists of a chain of open compartments that move slowly in a loop up and down inside a building without stopping. Passengers can step on or off at any floor they like...
lifts. Most important for visitors are the main lobby, the stately Session Hall and the large Hall of State.
Notable later additions to the building are the library annex completed in 1978 and a separate office block, the Pikkuparlamentti
Pikkuparlamentti
The Finnish Parliament Annex is a building in the centre of Helsinki, Finland. It houses offices for about one hundred members of the Parliament of Finland. The building was built in 2004 and the design comes from the winning entry of a design competition held from 1998 to 2000...
(Little Parliament), the necessity of which was an object of some controversy, completed in 2004.