What makes Messukeskus Solar special from an architect’s perspective?
Architect Niklas Mahlberg’s speech at the topping-out ceremony of Messukeskus Solar, 9 November 2026:
What makes Messukeskus Solar special is not primarily its form or façade. The architecture is intentionally understated. Its character is created through space, scale, light, and the interaction of materials. But even more importantly, it is defined by what the building needs to be able to do: it does not have just one purpose.
Solar serves as a main entrance, event venue, exhibition space, performance venue, and setting for celebrations. At the same time, the building must leave room for activities that we cannot yet anticipate. Solar can function as part of Messukeskus or as an independent venue, and the character of the space can be transformed to suit different uses.
This creates an interesting paradox: the building is designed with great precision so that its use does not have to be predetermined. In this way, it can be many things without any single function defining its architecture.
Another distinctive feature relates to technology. The building is technically highly complex, yet this complexity is not intended to be visible. There is an extensive amount of technology and numerous integrated systems, and coordinating them has been one of the project’s central design challenges. Yet visitors should never have to think about any of this.
What they will remember are entirely different things: what happened here, whom they met, and how the space made them feel.
"What makes Messukeskus Solar special is not primarily its form or façade. The architecture is intentionally understated. Its character is created through space, scale, light, and the interaction of materials. But even more importantly, it is defined by what the building needs to be able to do: it does not have just one purpose."
Solar is part of the gradually evolving structure of Messukeskus. It continues this development in its own way, neither imitating the existing architecture nor deliberately distancing itself from it.
It is a layer of its own era. It introduces a new kind of event space to Messukeskus while at the same time renewing its entrance experience and strengthening its identity.
Architecture is never created in a linear process, and this is perhaps even more evident in an alliance project. Throughout the journey, alternatives have been explored, solutions refined, and numerous choices made. Amid all of this, two principles have remained constant: preserving openness of use and ensuring a meaningful experience for the people who will use the space.
Solar is therefore not a monument. It is a framework for a wide variety of events. Only when it is in use will we truly see how well it succeeds in fulfilling this role. At this stage, a long design process is becoming a tangible building.
Thank you to everyone involved in the project for helping us reach this milestone. For an architect, this is a special moment.
Very soon, the building will also become a new place within the city. And from that point onward, it will take on a life of its own.
Niklas Mahlberg, CEO, Davidsson Tarkela Siren Architects
