Central library

"Library is a democratic meeting place for international and border-crossing contacts."

In 1978 a competition was arranged for the design of a new main library. The jury unanimously chose Raili and Reima Pietilä´s work "Mating Call".
The architects said they had been influenced by various elements, such as Celtic ornaments, sheep horns and glacial spin formations. The constructional basic idea was space coiling spirally like the shell of a snail. The form of a bird appeared in the design process. Increasingly, the building began to resemble a large game bird - capercaillie. In fact, the library is known under the Finnish name "Metso". Seen from above, the building looks like a bird carrying a shield.
The library building was completed in 1986. Its distinctive symbolism immediately broke new paths in Finnish contemporary architecture.
Most of the challenging construction job was handiwork by the builders of the city engineering office.
The facade materials are granite, copper and wiborgite. The roof and some of the window casements have been overlaid with copper. Concrete and granite are the principal materials inside the building.
The colours of the interior are those of Finnish nature - blue, green and white. The textiles derive their colours from wild flowers, partly also from the plumage of the capercaillie. All the furniture was specially designed for the house.
Metso sits in an urban park environment, partly hidden by vegetation. It is surrounded by Finnish trees and bushes, such as juniper, rowan and spruce.
The interior is a uniform space, where the visitor moves from a place to another like in a town or a forest. Spectacular views open on to the blue, slanting dome, the arching "sails" of the vault and reflections off the bookcase-end mirrors. Everything has a meaning conveying messages from the building as the books and other library materials convey messages from human culture.
Once completed, the main library will be a new landmark and an environmmental work interpreting our age.

„Its forms bend smoothly in the horizontal and vertical direction, like those of a large sculpture. And yet it is a utility article and a building."