Adaptive Reuse of Eliel Saarinen’s landmark Helsinki Central Railway Station
By Martta Louekari The Helsinki Central Railway Station, and its administrative buildings, are among Eliel Saarinen’s most important achievements in Finland and a masterpiece of Finnish Art Nouveau. The building, completed in 1919, has been listed among the most beautiful railway stations in the world and it is one of the most visited architecture destinations in Finland. The Scandic Grand Central Helsinki opened as a design hotel in April 2021 in an adaptive reuse of Eliel Saarinen´s masterpiece with an extension that respects the original design. Only a few years after the railway station was completed, Saarinen won second prize in the competition to design the Chicago Tribune skyscraper and thereafter moved permanently to the United States. Later his son, Eero Saarinen, continued the family´s triumph of iconic terminal buildings, designing the Dulles International Main Terminal in 1952 and JFK airport’s TWA Flight Center (Terminal 5) in 1962. Neither Eliel …
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