"Näsinneula is an observation tower in Tampere, Finland, overseeing Lake Näsijärvi. It was built in 1970–1971 and was designed by Pekka Ilveskoski. It is the tallest free-standing structure in Finland and at present the tallest observation tower in the Nordic countries at a height of 168 metres (551 ft). The tower opened in 1971 and is located in the Särkänniemi amusement park. There is a revolving restaurant in the tower 124 metres (407 ft) above the ground; one revolution takes 45 minutes. The design of Näsinneula was inspired by the Space Needle in Seattle. The idea of a revolving restaurant was taken from the Puijo Tower, which is located in Kuopio, the city of North Savonia.
The base of the tower is at about 15 metres (49 ft) of elevation from lake Näsijärvi. There are two elevators, made by Valmet-Schlieren. The elevators go up to a height of 120 metres (390 ft), to the Pilvilinna ("Cloud Castle") café. The restaurant (called Näsinneula) is one story higher.
The elevator ride to the top takes 27 seconds with a maximum speed of 6 m/s (20 ft/s) and the elevators carry a maximum of 16 people. The elevators are still the fastest public elevators in Finland. In the event of a blackout, the tower's own diesel emergency generator will start. In an emergency, people can be evacuated with stairs that have 700 steps.
Beacon lights at the top of the tower display a weather forecast:
three yellow bars = clear weather
two yellow and one darkgreen bar = cloudy
one yellow and two darkgreen bars = chance of rain
three darkgreen bars = rainy"
// Wikipedia