Finlandia Hall is known as the venue for the OSCE Summit (Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe) held in August 1975, attended by 35 world leaders, including the leader of the Soviet Union, Leonid Brezhnev, and the President of the United States, Gerald Ford.

The inauguration concert included the first performance of Einojuhani Rautavaara's Meren tytär ('Daughter of the Sea') and Aulis Sallinen's Symphony (opus 24), as well as Sibelius's violin concerto with Isaac Stern as the violin soloist of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Finlandia Hall and its Congress wing was the only part of a plan for a grand new monumental centre for Helsinki around the Töölö Bay area, designed by Alvar Aalto from 1959 to 1976, to actually be built.

A lattice ceiling hides the space to the audience but it allows the creation of the same deep post-echo as tall church towers.

Aalto used Italian Carrara marble in both indoor and outdoor surfaces as a contrast to black granite.

The effect is created by a black trapezium on the white marble surface of the Finlandia Hall tower.

The trapezium has been measured to fit the rising tower of the National Museum when the Finlandia Hall is viewed from the eastern shore of the Töölönlahti Bay.

The design of each lamp, piece of furniture, panel, flooring material and decorative board is a reflection of Aalto's maturity resulting from his long career as an architect as well as designer of lamps, furniture and fixtures such as door handles.

The renovation that cost 136 million euros was carried out in a way that respected architect Alvar Aalto's legacy.

The Main Auditorium has been a popular venue for meetings, congresses, festivities, concerts and events from the very beginning.

The Main Auditorium has served as a venue for several international summit meetings, for instance for the meeting of the Second Stage of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 1975, which was attended by General Secretary Brezhnev from the Soviet Union and President Ford from the United States.

The name goes back to Italy, the country that Aalto admired greatly, its market places and squares where people gathered to see each other.

[citation needed] The Helsinki Hall with its 340 seats and pleasant foyer is an excellent venue for various events.

The special feature of the Congress Wing is the “waves” of the facade that give the building unique beauty and vivacity.

The Veranda extension of the Finlandia Hall, which was completed in 2011, is a conversion of the covered parking lot and ramp on the Karamzininranta side of the main building.

The main architect for Veranda is Jyrki Iso-Aho and the interior design is by Jaakko Puro Oy.

On 1 June 2008, the management organisation of the Finlandia Hall was changed into a limited liability company, Finlandia-talo Oy.