The Parliament House ( , ) is the seat of the

Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral and Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that ...

. It is located in the Finnish capital

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, in the district of Etu-Töölö.

History

In 1923, a competition was held to choose a site for a new parliament house. Arkadianmäki, a hill beside what is now

Mannerheimintie Mannerheimintie () (previously known as ''Henrikinkatu'', ''Läntinen ja Itäinen Henrikinkatu'', ''Läntinen ja Itäinen Heikinkatu'', ''Turuntie'', ''Läntinen viertotie'', ''Heikinkatu''), colloquially known as Mansku, named after the Finni ...

, was chosen as the best place to build on. The architectural competition which was held in 1924 was won by the firm of Borg–Sirén–Åberg with a proposal called ''Oratoribus'' (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "for the speakers"). Johan Sigfrid Sirén (1889–1961), who was mainly responsible for preparing the proposal, was given the task of designing Parliament House. The building was constructed between 1926–1931 and was officially inaugurated on March 7, 1931. Ever since then, and especially during the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

and

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet–Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 ...

, it has been the scene of many key moments in the nation's politics. On September 25, 2024, the Finnish

Extinction Rebellion Extinction Rebellion (abbreviated as XR) is a UK-founded global environmental movement, with the stated aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system, biodiversity loss, and ...

and Swedish Återställ Våtmarker sprayed red paint on the pillars of Parliament House as a protest against the coal-industry.

Architecture and features

Sirén designed Parliament House in a

stripped classical Stripped Classicism (also referred to as Starved Classicism or Grecian Moderne) Jstor is primarily a 20th-century classicist architectural style stripped of most or all ornamentation, frequently employed by governments while designing officia ...

architectural style, combining

Neoclassicism Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...

with early twentieth century modernism. Sirén's combination of simplified

columns A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

and

balusters A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its c ...

with uncomplicated planar geometry bears comparison to similar explorations by Erik Gunnar Asplund and

Jože Plečnik Jože Plečnik () (23 January 1872 – 7 January 1957) was a Slovenian architect who had a major impact on the modern architecture of Vienna, Prague and of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, most notably by designing the iconic Triple Bridge a ...

. The

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

is lined by fourteen columns with Corinthian capitals, all made from red

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

from Kalvola. The building has six floors, each of which are unique. Five of the floors are connected by a white marble staircase and paternoster lifts. The most important for visitors looking to visit are the main lobby, the stately

debate chamber A debate chamber is a room for conducting the business of a deliberative assembly or otherwise for debating. When used as the meeting place of a legislature, a debate chamber may also be known as a council chamber, legislative chamber, assembly ...

(Session Hall) and the large reception hall (State Hall). Notable later additions to the building include the library annex, completed in 1978, and a separate office block, Finnish Parliament Annex (), completed in 2004, the necessity of which was an object of some controversy.

Floors of the Parliament House

First floor

The first floor contains the main lobby, the Speaker's reception rooms, the newspaper room, the information service, the documents office, the messenger centre, the copying room, the restaurant, and some separate function rooms. At both ends of the lobby are marble staircases leading up to the fifth floor.

Second floor

The second floor, also known as the main floor, is centered on the plenary chamber. Its galleries have seats for the public, the press, and diplomats. Also located on this floor are the reception hall (the Hall of State), the Speaker's Corridor, the Government Corridor, the cafeteria, and adjacent function rooms.

Third floor

The third floor includes facilities for the information unit and the media, and provides direct access to the press gallery of the plenary chamber. The Minutes Office and a number of committee rooms are also located here.

Fourth floor

The fourth floor is reserved for committees. Its largest rooms are the Grand Committee room and the Finance Committee room.

Fifth floor

The fifth floor contains meeting rooms and offices for the parliamentary groups.

Sixth floor

Additional offices for the parliamentary groups are located on the sixth floor, along with additional facilities for the media.

Statues of the former presidents

Most of the statues of former presidents of the Republic of Finland have been placed in the vicinity of the Parliament House. On the lawn in front of the house is the statue of Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg from 1959 and the statue of

Pehr Evind Svinhufvud Pehr Evind Svinhufvud af Qvalstad (, 15 December 1861 – 29 February 1944) was the third president of Finland from 1931 to 1937. Serving as a lawyer, judge, and politician in the Grand Duchy of Finland, which was at that time an autonomous s ...

from 1961, both carved by Wäinö Aaltonen, the former on the north and the latter on the south. In the same block, in the Parliament Park immediately north of the Parliament House, there is a statue of

Kyösti Kallio Kyösti Kallio (, 10 April 1873 – 19 December 1940) was a Finnish politician who served as the fourth president of Finland from 1937 to 1940. His presidency included leading the country through the Winter War; while he relinquished the post ...

from 1962,Kyösti Kallion muistopatsas
Helsingin taidemuseon Julkiset veistokset (in Finnish) carved by his son

Kalervo Kallio Niilo Kalervo Kallio (28 March 1909 – 2 November 1969) was a Finnish sculptor. He was the son of the fourth president of Finland, Kyösti Kallio.Politics of Finland The politics of Finland take place within the framework of a Parliamentary system, parliamentary representative democracy. Finland is a republic whose head of state is President of Finland, President Alexander Stubb, who leads the nation's for ...

* Helsinki City Hall * House of the Estates

Notes

References

External links

Parliament House brochureOfficial website of the Finnish Parliament
{{Authority control Landmarks in Finland Buildings and structures in Helsinki Parliament of Finland Legislative buildings in Europe Neoclassical architecture in Finland Seats of national legislatures Government buildings completed in 1931 1931 establishments in Finland Töölö