Säynätsalo Town Hall, designed by Alvar Aalto, will come to life during the summer season, 13.6.–3.9.2016. Visitors and locals are pampered with delicacies at the Café Alvar Summer Camp, as well as with guided tours and exciting related events. The opening of the summer season will be celebrated on Saturday 18 June 2016.

Säynätsalo Town Hall. Photo: Alvar Aalto Museum / Maija Holma.

A branch of the popular Café Alvar, operating at the Alvar Aalto Museum, will open on 13 June at Säynätsalo Town Hall. The Café Alvar Summer Camp will be run from the reception and office areas of the town hall during the summer season. During café opening hours, visitors can check out the town hall facilities and a sales exhibition by artists from Central Finland, free of charge. Visitors can also book guided tours of the town hall from the Alvar Aalto Museum.

“Having a café at the town hall is a special experiment for this summer, with the aim of attracting more visitors to this great building. Visitors will be served refreshments and other delicacies, both indoors and, weather permitting, outdoors in the lovely inner courtyard, where people can sit traditionally at tables, or really take it easy and lie on rugs,” says the café entrepreneur Anna Kylmälä.

Visitors who have come from far away also have the unique opportunity to stay the night at Säynätsalo Town Hall. The guest rooms at Aalto’s architectural masterpiece can be booked through the Alvar Aalto Museum.

“This summer, we are launching a variety of bold experiments, to find events and activities that would best suit the building. A common thread running through our efforts is high-quality design and planning. The building is visited by a great number of international guests, most of them during the summer. It is obvious that our town hall is a crowd-puller, with architectural significance, but, through active marketing and exciting related activities, we hope to attract more visitors, including tourists, summer guests, and, of course, local residents,” says the administrative director of the city of Jyväskylä, Heli Leinonkoski.

The opening of the summer camp at Säynätsalo Town Hall will take place on Saturday 18 June, from 11 am to 5 pm. The event, which is open to all, is set to include a sales exhibition of art, a pop-up shop by Finnish designers, campfire stories about Säynätsalo and Alvar Aalto, and musical performances. The summer café and the library will also be open to visitors. There will be a 30-minute guided tour of the town hall at noon and at 3:15 pm. The tours are free, and no separate registration is required. More information about the opening event here.

ENQUIRIES AND CONTACT INFORMATION