Parliament House
Up until 1906 Finland had a Diet consisting of four Estates:
nobles, clergy, burghers and peasants. This system dated back
to the period when Finland belonged to Sweden and was retained
after Russia annexed Finland as an autonomous grand duchy
under the tsar.
In 1906 the Diet was replaced by a 200-seat Parliament. This
reform was accompanied by the introduction of universal suffrage.
Finland was the first country in Europe and the second in
the world to give women the right to vote in parliamentary
elections.
When Finland declared its independence in 1917, this provided
added impetus for the construction of a new Parliament House.
The shortage of state funds and the civil war of 1918 caused
the project to be postponed, however, and Parliament had to
meet in rented premises.
In 1923 a competition was held to choose a site for a new
Parliament House, and an architectural competition was arranged
the following year. This was won by the firm of Borg-Sirén-Åberg
with a proposal called Oratoribus ("for the speakers").
J.S. Sirén, who was mainly responsible for preparing
the proposal, was given the task of designing Parliament House.
The building was constructed in 1926-1931 and was officially
inaugurated on 7 March 1931. During the Winter War, from 30
November 1939 to 13 March 1940, Parliament was evacuated and
met in a school house in the town of Kauhajoki.
Sirén also designed the furniture, lighting fixtures
and numerous other details in the most important parts of
Parliament House. Every floor has its own special character.
Extensive use was made of domestic materials, such as stained
flamy or curly birch and oak in much of the furniture. The
exterior is covered in Finnish reddish granite.
 The
first floor contains the main lobby, the Speaker's reception
rooms, the Research Service, the newspaper room, the Documents
Office, and the restaurant and separate function rooms. The
second or main floor is centred around the Session Hall. Its
galleries have seats for the public, the media and diplomats.
Parliament House was thoroughly refurbished in the 1980s.
The diversification of Parliament's activities and the need
for additional space at the Library of Parliament led to discussion
in the 1960s regarding the expansion of Parliament House.
This led to an architectural competition in 1970, which was
won by the firm of Pitkänen-Laiho-Raunio.
A three-part Annex was completed in 1978 on the basis of
the winning entry. This building includes the Library of Parliament
and the Office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman, among other
things. Wings with offices for MPs were added on both sides
of Parliament House.
http://www.eduskunta.fi
Photographs:
- Parliament House. Photographer: Matti Tirri
-Session Hall. Photo: Parliament
Top of the page |
Panorama
tour 