Kuopio City Hall is a

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

in center of the

Kuopio Kuopio ( , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Savo. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Kuopio is approximately , while the Kuopio sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mos ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, near the

Kuopio Market Square Kuopio Market Square () is the market square in the Multimäki district in Kuopio, North Savonia, Finland. The market is located about one hundred meters above sea level and the size of the area is 130×174 meters. The cover is made of dice and ...

. It was designed by Finnish architects

F. A. Sjöström F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distribution, a conti ...

and

Josef Stenbäck Josef Daniel Stenbäck (May 2, 1854, Alavus — April 27, 1929, Helsinki) was a Finnish church architect and engineer. He designed 35 churches for Finland, which until 1917 was part of the Russian Empire. Four of the churches were located in th ...

, and was completed in 1886. Stylistically, the city hall is of the

Neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...

of the second half of the 19th century. The current exterior coloring of the house dates back to 1974. In the most beautiful municipal buildings poll, in 2009 Kuopio City Hall was chosen among the three most beautiful municipal buildings. When completed, it sovereignly controlled the northern edge of the market square, the area around the square was still completely wooden at that time. Spatial changes were common in the first decades of the house. The first floor of the house had a

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

and a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

History

The design of the house started as early as 1875, a competition was also held for the design at that time, but it was decided to reject all competition entries. Since then, the estate has been the subject of several unrealized plans. "Kuopio City Hall should not be built on the edge of a

market square A market square (also known as a market place) is an urban square meant for trading, in which a market is held. It is an important feature of many towns and cities around the world. A market square is an open area where market stalls are tradit ...

in a remote place far from the center. The city will never grow so big," it was stated and believed in 1880 in Kuopio, however, the building was still erected there. A wooden house was burned from the road of the town hall on the way to the town hall by a driver named Inkinen. The rest of the buildings in Inkinen's courtyard were demolished. The interiors have undergone many changes over the years. Already in the 20th century, ceiling and wall paintings were covered with gray monochrome paint, and these overpaintings have been made a total of 3-4 times. In 1917 and 1921, drawings were made to expand the town hall, and in 1951

Alvar Aalto Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (; 3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, see ...

designed a concert and theater building behind the town hall; however, none one of these plans materialized. The actual restoration was done in a 1970s renovation in the lower lobby, staircase, upper lobby,

ballroom A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called ''balls''. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially histori ...

and former

City Council Chamber A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

, which was converted into a

canteen Canteen most often refers to: * Canteen (bottle), a water container * Cafeteria, a type of food service location within an institution in which there is little or no waiting staff table service * A complete set of cutlery comprising knives, forks, ...

for

employment Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a cor ...

. In these premises, mainly wall and ceiling surfaces were restored, the floors were renewed taking into account the restoration aspects. Also original equipment, e.g. the lamps were restored. The last internal renovation was carried out in 1976 - 1979. At that time, e.g. air conditioning, new room arrangements and the restoration of interior paintings. At the western end of the town hall there is the text "The right to guide the people" and at the eastern end "The law guards the law". The words are from

A. Oksanen Karl August Engelbrekt Ahlqvist, who wrote as A. Oksanen (7 August 1826 – 20 November 1889), was a Finnish professor, poet, scholar of the Finno-Ugric languages, author, and literary critic. He is best remembered as the sharpest critic of writ ...

's poem ''Revealed in Porthan's Statue'' (''Porthanin kuvapatsaan paljastettua''). The texts were not received on the wall of the town hall until 1900, when a clock that had not been acquired before was also acquired.Kuopion kaupungintalo
(in Finnish)

Government and service

Kuopio City Hall currently employs more than 50 people. The workspaces of the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

, service area managers and management secretaries are on the second floor of City Hall, as is the staff canteen. The city government also meets on the second floor. On the first floor are the city office, the staff and well-being development service, as well as marketing, communication and

customer service Customer service is the assistance and advice provided by a company to those who buy or use its products or services, either in person or remotely. Customer service is often practiced in a way that reflects the strategies and values of a firm, and ...

. The basement is used for storage and archives, and there is a

conference room A conference hall, conference room, or meeting room is a room provided for singular events such as business conferences and meetings. Room It is commonly found at large hotels and convention centers though many other establishments, including even ...

with auxiliary facilities built in the attic in the 1980s.

References

External links

Kuopio City Hall
- Official website (in Finnish) {{Kuopio Cityscape City and town halls in Finland Buildings and structures in Kuopio Buildings and structures completed in 1886 Renaissance Revival architecture in Finland

History

Government and service

See also

References

External links