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Finlandia Hall is a Concert Hall with a Congress wing in Helsinki , by Töölönlahti bay. It was designed by Alvar Aalto and completed in 1971 . The main features of the building's exterior are the great horizontal mass of the building proper and the towering auditorium that rises above it. Notable also is the exterior cladding, done in Carrara Marble . The relatively thin marble slabs tend to acquire curvature in the course of time and have needed to be replaced with great expense. DESIGN AND BUILDING Alvar Aalto was commissioned by the City of Helsinki to design a concert and congress building, the first constructed part of a great central city plan. The earliest sketches show features of what were to be the main features of the design. The principal set of blueprints are dated 10th May 1967 . Contemporary to the designing of the , two mistakes made in the construction of Finlandia Hall were avoided. The first was the use of thin slabs of Carrara marble for the exterior, which have not held their form and have had to be replaced. The other was an acoustical feature of the concert hall tower: the slats intended for controlling the acoustic environment of the hall had to be completely closed for the acoustics to work at all. COMPLETION Finlandia hall was completed in 1971 . The congress wing was being designed even before the completion of the main wing, and was completed in 1975 . It was opened just in time for the Conference On Security And Cooperation In Europe (later to be renamed OSCE ), during which the heads of state from thirty-two countries visited Helsinki. The Helsinki Final Act was signed at Finlandia Hall. Despite construction troubles, Finlandia Hall counts among Aalto's top work. FACILITIES The main concert hall, called Finlandia Hall, seats 1,700 and features Aalto's distinctive marble balconies and cobalt-blue walls with bent-wood decoration. The smaller auditorium, Helsinki Hall seats 340. The Congress Halls seat 450-900, depending on the configuration, and are equipped for simultaneous interpretation, television and press. EXTERNAL LINKS
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