Lappia Hall

About

Lappia Hall (Finnish: Lappia-talo) is a performing arts venue and conference centre in Rovaniemi, the capital city of the Finnish Lapland region, situated close to the Arctic Circle. It is notable for having been designed by the renowned Finnish architect Alvar Aalto in the modernist style. The wavy exterior roofline is reminiscent of the fells of Lapland.

When lit at night, they also resemble the Northern Lights (see e.g. here Archived 2020-09-30 at the Wayback Machine). The interior design makes extensive use of light wood and plain white surfaces with blue accents, typical of Aalto's later work.

The public areas are largely furnished with light fixtures and furniture by Aalto's own furniture and interior design company, Artek. The building was constructed in phases. The first phase was completed in 1961, and housed among other things the Finnish public broadcaster Yle's regional office, as well as the Lapland Music Institute (Lapin musiikkiopisto).

The second phase, completed in 1971, is home to the municipal Rovaniemi Theatre, while the final phase, the conference centre, was finished in 1975. Lappia Hall was the last building Aalto saw finished, before his death in 1976. In 2013...