Lahti Town Hall
The Town Hall of Lahti is one of the notable Finnish monuments designed by the architect Eliel Saarinen in the first decade of this century. 

History
Lahti Town Hall, designed in 1911 by Eliel Saarinen, stands in a dominant position on Radiomäki hill at one end of Mariankatu street. The Town Hall was completed in 1912, and was originally used by the municipal administration, the fire department, the police department and the town jail.
In 1934 an annex was built, designed by the City architect, Kaarlo Könönen. The repair of war damage and other alterations and renovations had spoiled the original fine interiors, which were late Art Nouveau in style.
The clear, simple floor plan had also suffered. The original colours had been covered up and the ornamentation toned down. The compelete renovation and restoration workwas completed in September 1985. The architectural planning and building work were done by the City of Lahti.
The aim of the renovation work was to give the Town Hall interiors a standard and style befitting their historical importance and to build facilities for the central administration in line with modern requirements.
The aim was to use clear, simple floor plans and the original colour scheme and materials to recreate the dignified, restrained effect of late Art Nouveau. Simple decorative nature motifs and natural colours were used to restore their subtle charm.
Every effort was made to link the modern working facilities to the corridor and lobby areas using soft colour tones, materials and décors.
Following Saarinen's own design principle, every effort was made to make the building and its interiors a 'complete work of art'. The principle was to work in the spirit, rather than in the style, of Saarinen.
Following renovation, the building's total floor area is 5 160 m2 and its volume 19 950 m3.

Musical Fountain
Close to the passenger harbour in the Kariniemi park area next to pond Pikku-Vesijärvi, there is the largest musical fountain in the Nordic countries built by energy company Lahti Energia in 1997.
Water, lights and music are combined to create a delightful symphony that is at its best during the dark evenings of the autumn and winter. 
During the EU Summit on 19th and 20th October the performances can be enjoyed every hour from 5 pm tp 10 pm. At other times performances run every day at 7 pm until the end of November. One performance lasts about 30 minutes.

Wood Architecture Park
The Spirit of Nature Wood Architecture Award will be granted every second year. The Award ceremony will be held in a building which may be described as the flagship of Finnish timber construction in the new millennium - the Sibelius Hall Congress and Concert Centre in the City of Lahti.
Near the Sibelius Hall in Lahti a unique wood architecture park is being built, a park which consists of works by award winners of the Spirit of Nature Wood Architecture Award or of works designed in their honour.
The project has importance both nationally and internationally since the works of major architects are put together in a small area.

The Spirit of Nature Wood Architecture Award
A new international architectural award - the Spirit of Nature Wood Architecture Award - was established in Finland in 1999. The Award is granted for architectural excellence to a person or group of persons whose work exemplifies a progressive and creative use of timber.
The Award sum EUR 50,000 has been made possible by the support of the Finnish Forest Foundation.