What significance and value does the architecture of the 1970s hold in our built environment?  

Next summer the Museum of Finnish Architecture in Helsinki will be taken over by the 1970s! The exhibition, accompanying exhibition book and outreach work will shine a new light on the architecture of this controversial decade.  

It is a common preconception that the architecture of the 1970s is ugly, of poor quality, ripe for demolition and aesthetically detrimental to its environment. Historical narratives often portray the decade as a time of efficiency, precast concrete elements and suburbs. In the midst of the triumph of modernism and the transition to postmodernism, the 1970s appeared to have lost its bearings and abandoned mental well-being as a guiding principle for design.  

A closer inspection, however, reveals the numerous merits of the architecture of the 1970s. A desire for equality and for the democratic treatment of all citizens permeated all sections of Finnish society. This was also reflected in the built environment. New social realities called for the recalibration of architecture as professionalism founded upon democracy, scientific research, the common good and universal competence. The 1970s in architecture was anything but a decade of architectural insignificance.  
The exhibition opening at the Museum of Finnish Architecture in May 2023, together with the accompanying exhibition book, will examine the architecture and other phenomena of this controversial decade. At the same time, the exhibition visitor will be challenged to reflect upon the significance of the built environment of the 1970s in the 2020s.  

The exhibition continues the series of exhibitions at the Museum of Finnish Architecture dealing with the architecture of past decades, which has now reached the 1970s.  

Expert consultancy for the media regarding the buildings of the 1970s:  

Do you have questions about the value systems associated with the architecture of the 1970s? Are you interested in a building under threat of demolition? Are you currently doing something linked to the 1970s and in need of an expert? The experts associated with the 1970s project at the Museum of Finnish Architecture are at hand to help you!  

Petteri Kummala   
Deputy Head of Information Services and Research, Museum of Finnish Architecture 
petteri.kummala@mfa.fi  
 +358 45 7731 0477   

Anni Vartola  
Senior lecturer, Architecture Theory, Aalto University  
anni.vartola@aalto.fi  
+358 50 320 3580

For more information and press images, please contact:

Ilona Hildén
Communications planner, Museum of Finnish Architecture
ilona.hilden@mfa.fi
+358 45 7731 0468   

Image: Heikki Humberg

Press release, published 24 Aug, 2022