Rautatalo (

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

: ''Järnhuset'') is an office building in central

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, completed in 1955, and notable for having been designed by the Finnish

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

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 ...

. The building is based on Aalto's winning entry, ''Casa'', to a 1951 design contest. It was commissioned for the Finnish Hardware Association, after which it is named: ''Rautatalo'' literally translates as 'Iron House' or 'Iron Building'; hardware stores in Finnish being called '' rautakauppa'' ('iron shop', compare with '

ironmonger Ironmongery originally referred, first, to the manufacture of iron goods and, second, to the place of sale of such items for domestic rather than industrial use. In both contexts, the term has expanded to include items made of steel, aluminium ...

s'). The exterior character of the building is dark and austere, clad with copper plate on its main

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a Loanword, loan word from the French language, French (), which means 'frontage' or 'face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often t ...

and brown brick on the side elevation. It was designed to match the height and proportions of the earlier building, created in

classical style Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the works of the Roman architect V ...

by Eliel Saarinen, which it abuts on one side (seen in the photo on the right). In contrast to the exterior, the interior is light and airy, making extensive use of white Carrara marble and

travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a pro ...

. At the heart of the interior space is an enclosed atrium, naturally-lit through 40

skylight A skylight (sometimes called a rooflight) is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes. History Open ...

s, known as ''Marmoripiha'' ('Marble Courtyard'), with its design inspired by

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

architecture. The lower floors house

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...

premises, including a café in the atrium space, with offices located on the upper floors. The building's exterior and much of its interior features have protected status.

References

External links

Rautatalo
on Alvar Aalto Foundation website
Official site
with history and images {{Portal, Finland Alvar Aalto buildings Modernist architecture in Finland Buildings and structures in Helsinki Office buildings completed in 1955