Ympyrätalo ( sv, Cirkelhuset; lit. "Circle House") is a circle-shaped office building located in the
Hakaniemi district of
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 ...
,
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 ...
. The building is a local
landmark.
History
Before Ympyrätalo was built, the block outlined by Siltasaarenkatu, Eläintarhantie and Porthaninrinne contained several wooden houses and a couple of stone buildings, such as the Wendt House which was designed by
Gustaf Estlander
Gustaf Axel Estlander (18 September 1876 – 1 December 1930) was a Finnish architect and one of the most successful Scandinavian yacht designers of the early 20th century. He was born and educated in Finland, later set up a yacht yard in German ...
and completed in 1903. All these buildings were demolished to make room for Ympyrätalo.
Ympyrätalo was designed by architects
Heikki and
Kaija Siren
Katri (Kaija) Anna-Maija Helena Siren (née Tuominen; October 23, 1920 in Kotka – January 15, 2001) was a Finnish architect. She graduated as an architect from the Helsinki University of Technology in 1948. Siren designed most of her works t ...
and work lasted eight years. It opened in 1968. It originally served as offices for
Kansallis-Osake-Pankki. Outside the building are three booths that functioned as a
drive-through bank until its closure in the 1970s due to low demand.
The building's architecture has been seen as a high point in 1960s Finnish office building architecture as other buildings of the decade, such as the Säästökulma building by
Antero Pernaja, the Scandinavian Bank building and the Helsinki Telephone headquarters, were considered to be mediocre by comparison.
At the same time Ympyrätalo, as well as the neighboring Kallio administrative building (1965) by the same architects, has been polarizing with its monumentality.
Before completing these buildings the Siren architects had created a small stage for the
Finnish National Theatre
The Finnish National Theatre ( fi, Suomen Kansallisteatteri), established in 1872, is a theatre located in central Helsinki on the northern side of the Helsinki Central Railway Station Square. The Finnish National Theatre is the oldest Finnish ...
(1954) as well as being entrusted with the plans for the renovation of
Helsinki Cathedral (1961–1963). The local architects went on to design important buildings in Paris, Japan, Austria and Iraq.
Ympyrätalo was renovated in the early 2000s to comply with modern technical and functional standards. The renovation project was completed in 2004. One of the architects responsible for the renovation was Jukka Siren, son of the Sirens who designed the building.
The building's exterior, entrances, inner courtyard and stairways are protected by a zoning ordinance.
The building is currently owned by the insurance company Ilmarinen
and tenants include an
S-Market grocery store, an
Alko
Alko Inc is the national alcoholic beverage retailing monopoly in Finland. It is the only store in the country which retails beer over 5.5% ABV, wine (except in vineyards) and spirits. Alcoholic beverages are also sold in licensed restaurant ...
liquor store, a
Mehiläinen private clinic and a pharmacy.
File:Hakaniementori,_Helsinki_1961.jpg, Hakaniemi Square
Hakaniemi (; sv, Hagnäs) is an unofficial district of Helsinki, the Finnish capital. It covers most of the neighbourhood of Siltasaari in the district of Kallio. Hakaniemi is located at the sea shore and is separated from the city centre by the ...
in 1961. The Wendt House in the middle was later torn down to make room for Ympyrätalo.
File:Hakaniemenpyoreatalo.jpg, Ympyrätalo viewed from Hakaniemi Square
Hakaniemi (; sv, Hagnäs) is an unofficial district of Helsinki, the Finnish capital. It covers most of the neighbourhood of Siltasaari in the district of Kallio. Hakaniemi is located at the sea shore and is separated from the city centre by the ...
.
File:Saastopankinranta_290408.jpg, View to Ympyrätalo from Säästöpankinranta.
Transport connections
Entrances to
Hakaniemi metro station
Hakaniemi metro station (, ) is a station on the Helsinki Metro. It serves the central Helsinki districts of Hakaniemi and Kallio. Both lines M1 and M2 serve Hakaniemi. There are 28 bicycle parking spaces at the station.
Opened on 1 June 1982, ...
of the
Helsinki Metro
The Helsinki Metro ( fi, Helsingin metro, sv, Helsingfors metro) is a rapid transit system serving Greater Helsinki, Finland. It is the world's northernmost metro system. It was opened to the general public on 2 August 1982 after 27 years of p ...
are located just outside Ympyrätalo. It has been suggested that the metro station could be directly connected to Ympyrätalo in the future but these plans have so far been postponed.
Tram lines 1, 3, 6, 7 and 9 pass by Ympyrätalo. The nearby bus stops are serviced by numerous local and regional bus lines driving Hämeentie to and from the Rautatientori terminus, including bus 615 to
Helsinki Airport
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (; fi, Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema, sv, Helsingfors-Vanda flygplats), or simply Helsinki Airport, is the main international airport of the city of Helsinki, its surrounding metropolitan area, and the Uusimaa region. ...
.
Public art
Ympyrätalo features a minimalist sculpture called "The Symbol": a 3-meter steel ball designed by Hannu Siren, the son of the architects Heikki and Kaija Siren, and installed in 1985 to one of the building's entrances.
See also
*
Otaniemi Chapel
References
External links
*
Ympyrätalo official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ympyratalo
Buildings and structures in Helsinki
Modernist architecture in Finland
Office buildings completed in 1968
Office buildings in Finland
Heikki and Kaija Siren buildings
Hakaniemi