Finlandia Hall

Finlandia Hall stands on the southern shore of Toelo Bay in Helsinki, a concert and congress building completed in 1971 to a design by Alvar Aalto. Aalto conceived it as part of his unrealised civic centre plan for Helsinki, which was meant to line the bay with a sequence of public buildings; only Finlandia Hall was built. It was clad in white Carrara marble, which has buckled repeatedly in the Finnish climate and has had to be replaced twice. The building drew global attention in 1975 when the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe was signed here. The main auditorium seats 1,750; guided tours reveal Aalto's characteristic detailing, down to the door handles. A short tram ride from the central station.