The Parliament House ( fi, Eduskuntatalo, sv, Riksdagshuset) is the seat of the

Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...

. It is located in the

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

capital

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

, in the district of

Töölö Töölö (; sv, Tölö, formerly spelled ''Thölö'') is the collective name for the neighbourhoods Etu-Töölö ( sv, Främre Tölö, lit=Front Töölö, links=no) and Taka-Töölö ( sv, Bortre Tölö, lit=Rear Töölö, links=no) in Helsink ...

History

In 1923 a competition was held to choose a site for a new parliament house. Arkadianmäki, a hill beside what is now

Mannerheimintie Mannerheimintie ( sv, Mannerheimvägen), named after the Finnish military leader and statesman Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, is the main street and boulevard of Helsinki, Finland. It was originally named Heikinkatu ( sv, Henriksgatan), after Rob ...

, 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 Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for "for the speakers").

Johan Sigfrid Sirén Johan Sigfrid Sirén (27 May 1889 – 5 March 1961) was a Finland, Finnish architect. He is best known for Parliament House, Helsinki, Eduskuntatalo, which is where the Parliament of Finland meets. Career Sirén was born in 1889 in Ylihärm� ...

(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 The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

and

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...

, it has been the scene of many key moments in the nation's political life.

Architecture and features

Sirén designed Parliament House in a

stripped classical Stripped Classicism (or "Starved Classicism" or "Grecian Moderne") Jstor is primarily a 20th-century Classical architecture, classicist architectural style stripped of most or all Ornament (art), ornamentation, frequently employed by governmen ...

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 Jože Plečnik () (23 January 1872 – 7 January 1957) was a Slovene architect who had a major impact on the modern architecture of Vienna, Prague and of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, most notably by designing the iconic Triple Bridge an ...

. The exterior is red Kalvola

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

. The

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loan word from the French (), which means ' frontage' or ' face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important aspect ...

is lined by fourteen columns with

Corinthian capitals The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order w ...

. The building has five floors, each of which is unique. The floors are connected by a white marble staircase and famous

paternoster lift A paternoster (, , or ) or paternoster lift is a passenger elevator which consists of a chain of open compartments (each usually designed for two people) that move slowly in a loop up and down inside a building without stopping. Passengers can ...

s. Most important for visitors are the main lobby, the stately

plenary chamber A debate chamber is a room for people to discuss and debate. Debate chambers are used in governmental and educational bodies, such as a parliament, congress, city council, or a university, either for formal proceedings or for informal discourse, ...

(Session Hall) and the large reception hall (State Hall). Notable later additions to the building are the library annex completed in 1978 and a separate office block, Pikkuparlamentti ( en, Little Parliament), the necessity of which was an object of some controversy, completed in 2004.

Floors of the Parliament House

First floor

The first floor contains the main lobby, the Speaker's reception rooms, the newspaper room, the information service, the documents office, the messenger centre, the copying room, the restaurant, and some separate function rooms. At both ends of the lobby are marble staircases leading up to the fifth floor.

Second floor

The second floor, also known as the main floor, is centered on the plenary chamber. Its galleries have seats for the public, the press, and diplomats. Also located on this floor are the reception hall (the Hall of State), the Speaker's Corridor, the Government Corridor, the cafeteria, and adjacent function rooms.

Third floor

The third floor includes facilities for the information unit and the media, and provides direct access to the press gallery of the plenary chamber. The Minutes Office and a number of committee rooms are also located here.

Fourth floor

The fourth floor is reserved for committees. Its largest rooms are the Grand Committee room and the Finance Committee room.

Fifth floor

The fifth floor contains meeting rooms and offices for the parliamentary groups. Additional offices for the parliamentary groups are located on the sixth floor, along with additional facilities for the media.

Statues of the former presidents

Most of the statues of former presidents of the Republic of Finland have been placed in the vicinity of the Parliament House. On the lawn in front of the house are the statue of

K. J. Ståhlberg K is the eleventh letter of the Latin alphabet. K may also refer to: General uses * K (programming language), an array processing language developed by Arthur Whitney and commercialized by Kx Systems * K (cider), a British draft cider manufac ...

from 1959 and the statue of P. E. Svinhufvud from 1961, both carved by

Wäinö Aaltonen Wäinö Valdemar Aaltonen (8 March 1894 – 30 May 1966) was a Finnish artist and sculptor. The Chambers Biographical Dictionary describes him as "one of the leading Finnish sculptors". He was born to a tailor in the village of Karinainen, Finla ...

, the former on the north and the latter on the south. In the same block, in the Parliament Park immediately north of the Parliament House, there is a statue of

Kyösti Kallio Kyösti Kallio (; 10 April 1873 – 19 December 1940) was a Finnish politician of the Agrarian League who served as the fourth president of Finland from 1937–1940; his presidency included leading the country through the Winter War. He was t ...

from 1962,Kyösti Kallion muistopatsas
Helsingin taidemuseon Julkiset veistokset (in Finnish) carved by his son Kalervo Kallio.

Sightseeing

Guided tours are arranged on Saturdays at 11:00 and 12:30 and on Sundays at 12:00 and 13:30; in July and August also at 14:00 on weekdays. On Tuesdays and Fridays, one can watch the Parliament in session from the public balcony.

Gallery

Notes

References

External links

Parliament House brochureOfficial website of the Finnish ParliamentShort movie featuring Parliament House
{{Helsinki Cityscape Landmarks in Finland Buildings and structures in Helsinki Parliament of Finland Legislative buildings in Europe Neoclassical architecture in Finland Seats of national legislatures Government buildings completed in 1931 1931 establishments in Finland Töölö