Parliament Building (Helsinki)

Brief information

The Parliament House was built on Arkadianmäki Hill after the site for the new home of the Finnish Parliament was chosen in 1923. Before that, Parliament had been housed in the Senate building, so the move meant more than just a change of address: a separate representative building was created for the Eduskunta and opened in 1931.

Architect Johan Sigfrid Sirén combined neoclassicism with early 20th-century modernism in it. This is visible in the facade itself: the classical motifs here are not lavish, but simplified and austere. As a result, the building reads both as a state monument and as a structure of its time, where solemnity is already subordinated to a drier geometry.

What to notice first

It is worth comparing three things on the facade: Päijänne granite, the 14 columns in the center, and the blank wall surfaces. The granite gives the building a heavy, solid appearance; the columns with Corinthian capitals preserve a connection to classical architecture; the large smooth surfaces and simplified balusters show the modernized part of the design. This makes it clearer how the building avoids palatial decorativeness while still speaking the language of state authority.

Inside, the white marble staircase and the paternoster lifts connecting five different floors are important. Later additions also help interpret the place: the library appeared in 1978, and the office building in 2004. Next to the main building stand monuments to three presidents of Finland, and together with the facade they turn the site not only into Parliament’s workplace, but also into a visible sign of political memory.