Hercules (nightclub)

The City-Center was a plan to raze and rebuild the block between the central Helsinki streets of Kaivokatu, Keskuskatu and Aleksanterinkatu, creating a unified, modern appearance for the area. The plan was originally drafted between 1958 and 1960 by Viljo Revell; Heikki Castrén continued work on the plan after Revell's death in 1964. The fulfillment of the plan would have required the demolition of several old buildings that are today considered to be a vital part of Helsinki's heritage. The only part of the plan that was implemented as planned is the 1967 office and shopping centre building right across the street from the Helsinki Central railway station, popularly known as Makkaratalo, Finnish for "sausage house": the elevated parking lot occupying the third floor is encircled by a decorative railing which is said to resemble a sausage. The first occurrence of the name was in a caricature drawn by the Finnish cartoonist Kari Suomalainen in Helsingin Sanomat. In the cartoon, a man is buying food from a snack bar near the Makkaratalo. He points at the railing, and the snack bar vendor replies, "Well, I'm just a small-time businessman."Today, the term "City-Center" refers to the entire shopping complex consisting of the Makkaratalo, various older properties, and the pathways connecting them to the adjacent streets. However, the term is rarely used and is unfamiliar even to most natives of Helsinki.The Finnish real estate company Sponda bought the City-Center in 2000 and has extensively renovated it. The building is currently protected by Finland's National Board of Antiquities as part of the city's heritage. In 2005 a decision was made to place the building under protection, allowing removal of the car-ramps but not the "sausage".The Helsingin kaupunginmuseo (Helsinki city Museum Bureau) also concluded in a written statement that The Makkaratalo reflects the Finnish ideology of planning in the 60's, e.g., the view that the city of Helsinki should prepare for a wider use of cars as part of becoming a modern metropolis. It is also a prime example of Viljo Revell's work. In the view of the Helsinkian, the Makkaratalo presents the perspective of everyday life. It has become a vital part of the Helsinki cityscape and a part of the collective memory of Helsinkians. However, this view can not be considered to be widespread in Helsinki. The Makkaratalo is commonly considered an eyesore. There have been several public statements about its ugliness, considering its very central place. For instance, the former leader of the National Board of Antiquities has stated that he considers the building an ugly error in judgement in city-planning, and would not oppose its demolition. The Makkaratalo also topped a 2004 poll by Helsingin Sanomat as the ugliest building in Helsinki. It was also featured in a 2005 series in Helsingin Sanomat about the oddest construction plans in the rapid growth of the 1960s.

Kaivokatu (Swedish: Brunnsgatan) is a short street in central Helsinki, Finland. It runs past the Central Station and station square, connecting Mannerheimintie in the west with Mikonkatu in the east (after which the road continues as Kaisaniemenkatu). Towards its eastern end is located the Ateneum art museum of the Finnish National Gallery. Kaivokatu carries heavy road traffic, forming the link between the main thoroughfares in and out of the city, eastbound via Hämeentie and westbound via Mannerheimintie, as well as several tram and bus routes. To reduce its traffic load, the City Council decided in 2023 to comprehensively rebuild the Kaivokatu area in 2026–2027, as part of which the street will be closed to private cars and remain open to only public transport, bicycles and pedestrians, a controversial plan which received plenty of attention and vocal resistance as well as support. The street gets its name, which literally means "well street" from the 19th-century Kluuvi well (Globrunnen), located on what is now the corner of Kaivokatu and Keskuskatu. The name in Finnish was first attested in 1866, and made official in 1909. Underneath the western end of Kaivokatu is the underground shopping centre Asematunneli, and below that, the Central Railway Station metro station of the Helsinki Metro.

Asematunneli (Swedish: Stationstunneln) is an underground shopping center connecting the Helsinki Central railway station and City-Center in downtown Helsinki, Finland. The area also has a ticket sales area for the Rautatientori metro station and connections to the nearby Forum shopping mall as well as Stockmann and Sokos department stores. The shops and supermarkets in Asematunneli are licensed to stay open longer than normal as well as during the national holidays, making the shopping center an important location for last minute and emergency shopping for the people of the greater Helsinki area. Kamppi Center and the bottom floor of Sähkötalo across Fredrikinkatu can also be accessed via tunnels by going through the Forum shopping mall first. The interconnecting areas provide for convenient movement across a wide area of central Helsinki, and allow pedestrians to escape the rain, snow, and cold weather that dominate much of the Finnish calendar. Asematunneli was built by digging up Kaivokatu and pouring concrete canopies for the tunnels in 1966–1967.

The World Trade Center Helsinki is a world trade center for financial companies and bureaus, located in central Helsinki, Finland. The building is located on Aleksanterinkatu very close to the main building of the University of Helsinki and to the Stockmann department store. On the first floor, the building houses a branch office of the Nordea bank, an Italian restaurant, and several bars. The architect Pauli E. Blomstedt was just 26 when he won the competition for the design of the building for the Liittopankki (Union Bank) in the Nordic Classicism style. It was completed in 1929.

Keskuskatu (Finnish, Swedish: Centralgatan), meaning "central street", is a two block long walking street in the centre of Helsinki, Finland. Along the street are located, counting from the southern end on Pohjoisesplanadi street, the Stockmann department store, the Rautatalo building, Domus Litonii, WTC Helsinki and the shopping centre City-Center, nicknamed "Makkaratalo" ("sausage house"). Keskuskatu ends at Kaivokatu opposite to the Helsinki Central railway station. Halfway through the street it is crossed by Aleksanterinkatu.

Ateneum is an art museum in Helsinki, Finland and one of the three museums forming the Finnish National Gallery. It is located in the centre of Helsinki on the south side of Rautatientori square close to Helsinki Central railway station. It has the biggest collections of classical art in Finland. Before 1991 the Ateneum building also housed the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts and University of Art and Design Helsinki.

The Grey Dance is a painting by Väinö Kunnas, from 1928.

Helsinki Railway Square (Finnish: Rautatientori, Swedish: Järnvägstorget) is an open square immediately to the east of the Helsinki Central railway station in central Helsinki in Finland. The square serves as Helsinki's secondary bus station along with the main Kamppi Center bus station. The north side features the Finnish National Theatre, and the south side is formed of the Ateneum classical art museum (part of the Finnish National Gallery). To the west side are the two ornate entrances to Helsinki Central station—a bigger one for public use, and a smaller one exclusively for the President of Finland and their official guests. The square is served by the Helsinki Metro system with Rautatientori metro station entrances at the south-west corner, and University of Helsinki metro station to the east. During summer afternoons and evenings, the pub tram Spårakoff departs from the Mikonkatu tram stop in the square once per hour.

Domus Litonii (Latin for "the Litonius house") is a three-story Empire style residential, commercial and office building with a lower bazaar wing located at Aleksanterinkatu 50 in central Helsinki, Finland. The building was designed by the master builder Gustaf Leander and it was built from 1845 to 1847. Garden wings were added in 1877 and 1880, and a lower bazaar wing designed by the architect Valter Jung was added on the Keskuskatu side in 1929. The facade on Aleksanterinkatu was modernised in 1936.The building was commissioned by the master draper and furniture manufacturer Jonas Litonius (1810 - 1864), and the Litonius family continues to own and live in the building to this day. The building is the only remaining 19th century residential building in the entire centre of Helsinki.The building is protected by construction law, and it has undergone basic repairs from 1993 to 2003.

Rautatalo (Swedish: Järnhuset) is an office building in central Helsinki, Finland, completed in 1955, and notable for having been designed by the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto.The building is based on Aalto's winning entry, Casa, to a 1951 design contest. It was commissioned for the Finnish Hardware Association, after which it is named: Rautatalo literally translates as 'Iron House' or 'Iron Building'; hardware stores in Finnish being called rautakauppa ('iron shop', compare with 'ironmongers').The exterior character of the building is dark and austere, clad with copper plate on its main façade and brown brick on the side elevation. It was designed to match the height and proportions of the earlier building, created in classical style by Eliel Saarinen, which it abuts on one side (seen in the photo on the right).In contrast to the exterior, the interior is light and airy, making extensive use of white Carrara marble and travertine. At the heart of the interior space is an enclosed atrium, naturally-lit through 40 skylights, known as Marmoripiha ('Marble Courtyard'), with its design inspired by Mediterranean architecture.The lower floors house retail premises, including a café in the atrium space, with offices located on the upper floors.The building's exterior and much of its interior features have protected status.

Stockmann Helsinki Centre is a culturally significant business building and department store located in the centre of Helsinki, Finland. It is one of many department stores owned by the Stockmann corporation. It is the largest department store in the Nordic countries in terms of area and total sales. The store is known for carrying all the internationally recognised luxury brands, and Stockmann's enjoys a reputation as the primary high-end department store in Finland. Stockmann Delicatessen, the food and beverage department located at the basement level, is renowned for the quality and choice of its foodstuffs. The Stockmann logo represents a set of escalators, which are commonly, but wrongly believed represent the first escalators in Finland. The first escalators in Finland were installed in the Forum department store, Turku (1926). In 2017, Stockmann Helsinki Centre was the fifth largest department store in Europe with area of 50,500 square meters. Especially the clock at the main entrance, colloquially "Stockan kello" ("Stocka's clock"), has become a symbol of Helsinkian city culture as a popular meeting place. Valter Thomé and his brother won the architecture competition for the department store in 1916. The Thomé brothers were killed in the Finnish Civil War. The building was built in 1930, and the task was then given to Sigurd Frosterus who had been on the second place in the original competition. The department store was designed in nordic Art Deco style. It is part of the Gazelle block in the district of Kluuvi. The new expansion of the building is based on Sigurd Frosterus's plans.

The Central Railway Station metro station (Finnish: Rautatientorin metroasema, Swedish: Järnvägstorgets metrostation) is a station on the Helsinki Metro. The entrance is located in the Asematunneli main hall, which has an exit to the Helsinki Central Railway Station. It is among the only Helsinki Metro stations whose names are announced in English, in addition to Finnish and Swedish. As one of the original metro stations, Central Railway Station was opened on 1 July 1982 and was designed by Rolf Björkstam, Erkki Heino, and Eero Kostiainen. It is located 0.5 kilometres (0.31 mi) from Kamppi metro station, and 0.6 kilometres (0.37 mi) from University of Helsinki metro station. The station is situated at a depth of 27 metres (89 ft) below ground level and 22 metres (72 ft) below sea level. On 8 November 2009 a water main burst, flooding and causing significant damage to the underground station complex. On February 15, 2010 the station reopened for public use.