The town hall designed by Alvar Aalto is celebrating the building’s anniversary today. Corona and the war have affected the clientele of the world-famous building.
Today, Wednesday, August 24, the 70th anniversary of the building is celebrated at the Säynätsalo municipal hall. The building is one of the world’s most famous and admired buildings designed by architect Alvar Aalto.
– This is not a cold administrative building, but meant for people to use. In addition to being a destination for tourists, the building is still part of the Säynätsalo community, as it can be reserved for organizing your own events, Taskinen states.
Visitors are amazed by the world map in the lobby of the municipal hall. Visitors have been allowed to put their marks on it, where they have come from.
– There are signs all over the map. We often wonder if this is really such a well-known building in the world.
Domestic placemarks have increased on the lobby map
Säynätsalo’s municipal hall had a record number of visitors in recent years in 2018. At that time, according to Taskinen, there were about 7,000 visitors. Now, about 4,500 visitors have visited the municipal hall during the summer.
The number is approximately the same as last summer. Taskinen estimates that world crises, such as Corona and war, are reflected in the customer base.
– In August, not nearly as many Asians and Europeans have visited the house as usually in the late summer. There are now long flights from Asia, and the corona is also affecting there. For example, people in Germany are probably now also preparing for rising costs and fuel is also expensive, Taskinen reflects.
In the busiest years of 2018-2019, almost half of the visitors were from abroad, recently 70 percent have come from Finland.
The entrepreneur would like the house’s doors to remain open to the public
Harri Taskinen is not that worried about the future of Säynätsalo municipal hall, because the building is protected. He talks about the Alvar Aalto Foundation’s and the state’s UNESCO world heritage project.
– The house will also receive world heritage status if the application is approved in a couple of years.
Taskinen hopes that there will be enough visitors in the future to keep the building’s doors open to the public. It has been his goal as an entrepreneur for six years now.
– I hope the building would not have to be closed. The long-term plan is being considered, what kind of activity would be possible for this or whether the private entrepreneur will continue to run it.
Today, the building, which is a tourist attraction, offers spaces for, among other things, a library and a cafe. You can also stay in the building all year round.