Ta mig dit

Viipuri Railway Station before and after the war.

Eliel Saarinen did win the design competition for the (second and current) Helsinki central station in spring 1904. However, this original Saarinen proposal was almost entirely different from the final apperance of the station: it was in national romantic style and very similar to the also-Saarinen designed Finnish National Museum. However, despite winning the competition, the proposal received quite a lot of criticism.

Next, in autumn 1904, Saarinen won the competition for the (new, second) Viipuri station with a proposal that was very different in style from his Helsinki station proposal – but quite similar to both Viipuri and Helsinki stations as they were eventually built. (It is perhaps of interest to note that Saarinen’s winning Viipuri proposal did stylistically somewhat resemble Sigurd Frotherus’ art nouveau -style proposal for Helsinki station – which the jury for that competition thought was rubbish. Frotherus also participated in the competition for Viipuri and got slammed by the jury).

Saarinen presented an entirely redrawn Helsinki station plan in December 1904, now strikingly similar to the recently submitted Viipuri station. The following year, the final drawings for the Viipuri station were made. They are signed by Saarinen and his colleague Herman Gesellius, but are believed to be solely the work of Gesellius.

Saarinen continued working on the Helsinki station plans for several years, changing the design to be more and more similar to the Viipuri station, until making the drawings of the station as we know today in 1910.