Train Station, Helsinki Central Station (1909)*

Artist/Designer: Eliel Saarinen

Project Location: Helsinki, Finland

Figure 1: Eliel Saarinen, Helsinki Train Station. Source: Martin Fox, Helsinki– Helsinki Train Station. 2013, Digital Image. Available from: Quora. ( Source | Accessed : May 9, 2014 )

Figure 2: Eliel Saarinen, Helsinki Train Station. Source: Debra Kolkka, Helsinki – Helsinki Train Station. 2012, Digital Image. ( Source | Accessed : May 9, 2014 )

Figure 3: Eliel Saarinen, Helsinki Train Station. Source: Debra Kolkka, Helsinki – Helsinki Train Station. 2012, Digital Image. ( Source | Accessed : May 9, 2014 )

Figure 4: Eliel Saarinen, Helsinki Train Station. Source: Debra Kolkka, Helsinki – Helsinki Train Station. 2012, Digital Image. ( Source | Accessed : May 9, 2014 )

Figure 5: Eliel Saarinen, Helsinki Train Station. Source: Debra Kolkka, Helsinki – Helsinki Train Station. 2012, Digital Image. ( Source | Accessed : May 9, 2014 )

Style/Period(s):
Art Nouveau, Art Deco

Primary Material(s):
Stone, Concrete

Function(s):
Train Station

Related Website(s):

Blog Post | Accessed : March 3, 2018

Victorian Web | Accessed : March 3, 2018

Finland Travel Website | Accessed : March 3, 2018

Significant Date(s):
20th Century, 1909

Additional Information:
Project Description:
This famous station is by Eliel Saarinen and is most monumental in scale both on the facade and the interiors. It offers a robust stark quality with restrained decorative geometric motifs that were most daring at the time. The lounge (or gaming room) is, at first, rather striking with its bright mural but the geometric motifs, which are cleverly repeated in all the public areas, are a perfect counterbalance. You may be acquainted with the famous TWA terminal building at JFK which was designed by Eliel's son, Eero Saarinen. Saarinen Sr. moved to the United States and was the founder and principal of the famous Cranbrook Academy, near Detroit.

Publications/Texts in Print:
Merkel, Jayne. Eero Saarinen. London: Phaidon Press, 2005.

Pelkonen, Eeva-Liisa. Eero Saarinen. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.

Roman, Antonio. Eero Saarinen. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2003.

Serraino, Pierluigi. Saarinen, 1910-1961: a Structural Expressionist. KöLn: Taschen, 2006.

Building Address:
Kaivokatu 1, 00100 Helsinki, Finland

Significant Dates:
1909: construction was completed.
1919: train station opened.
1960s: underground Asematunneli pedestrian underpass and underground shopping centre complex was built south of the station.
2000: a glass roof, which had already been in the original drawings by Eliel Saarinen, was built over the railway station's central platforms.

Tags:
Eliel Saarinen, Saarinen, Train station, Helsinki, Finland, art nouveau, art deco, 20th century, national romantic style, Finnish Architecture, romanticism, aestheticism

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