Photo: Ari Aalto

Welcome to Helsinki

We have two main venues for this Symposium, the Main Building and Porthania, the Central campus of the Helsinki University.

Porthania - Central campus of the University of Helsinki

Main Building of the University of Helsinki - The Great Hall

How to get to Helsinki

“The happiest country in the world” since 2019 (World happiness Report)

Helsinki Airport is one of the leading transfer hubs in Europe

  • Around 50 regularly-operating airlines

  • Around 80 scheduled destinations to other parts of Europe

The Airport is located 20 km from Helsinki City Centre

You can also get a ferry from Estonia, Poland, Germany or Sweden.

    • Member of the European Union and NATO.

    • Population 5.6 million

    • Capital: Helsinki

    • Languages: Finnish, Swedish, English

  • Service sector, manufacturing and refining (electronics, machinery, vehicles and other engineered metal products, forest industry and chemicals)

    • avg. July temperature 13.7-22.3°C

    • avg. July precipitation 55 mm (7 rainy days)

    • In July the nights are white throughout the country

Throughout its history, the University of Helsinki has played a key role in the development of the Finnish education system, cultural life and welfare state. We have been the alma mater of nine presidents and thousands of influential figures in the worlds of politics, scholarship, culture and the business sector – and not forgetting four Nobel laureates.
Helsinki University Museum - Flame

Porthania Stairs

Photo: Mari Makio / MFA

A distinct characteristic of Porthania is the integration of architecture, construction and technical installations. The concrete pillars and beams, visible in the brightly lit foyer and corridors, reveal the anatomy of the building. Long spans and minimising load-bearing structures allow for an open floor plan, where on the office floors only the rows of pillars, the lift shafts and staircases are fixed. Another special feature of the building is the partition wall structure, which was designed to be flexible, though has never actually been altered.

Read the full article by Sirkkaliisa Jetsonen about the Porthania Building and the architectural competition held in 1949, which was won by Aarne Ervi at: https://en.docomomo.fi/projects/porthania-building/