{"id":32358,"date":"2024-04-16T11:03:54","date_gmt":"2024-04-16T09:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/perspektivet.no\/en\/?post_type=bc_exhibition&p=32358"},"modified":"2024-10-03T08:56:18","modified_gmt":"2024-10-03T06:56:18","slug":"new-standards-timber-houses-ltd-1940-1955","status":"publish","type":"bc_exhibition","link":"https:\/\/perspektivet.no\/en\/exhibitions\/new-standards-timber-houses-ltd-1940-1955\/","title":{"rendered":"New Standards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New Standards <\/em>presents the story of Puutalo Oy (Timber Houses Ltd.), an industrial enterprise established in Finland in 1940 to help rehouse some 420 000 refugees, most of them displaced from Karelia due to the Winter War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this national crisis, architects and industrialists came together to create a new model of factory-built housing. In less than a decade, Puutalo<\/em> modernised Finland\u2019s construction industry and became one of the largest manufacturers of prefabricated wooden buildings in the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Puutalo in the world<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The story of\u00a0Puutalo\u00a0<\/em>illustrates the ways in which architecture connected with political, industrial, and economic forces during a period of intense global exchange and development. By the mid-1950s, the company had shipped buildings to more than 30 countries on all the continents.\u00a0The houses were developed by some of Finland\u2019s leading mid-century architects, and their archetypal exterior appearance belies the innovation that went into their structural design, spatial arrangement, and domestic utility.\u00a0Today, thousands of these modest model houses \u2013 possibly\u00a0Finland\u2019s most widespread architectural export \u2013\u00a0can be seen around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Honkatupa, designed in 1940, was one of the first house models of the Puutalo company. Typical features of these early designs were low-angled roofs, asymmetrical facades, and projecting porches. In a perspective drawing by architect Jarl Bjurstr\u00f6m, the simplified architecture is enlivened by storybook-like vegetation and caricatured human figures.
Source: Central Archives for Finnish Business Records\u2019 (ELKA)

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
An early-1950s advertising photograph shows children playing in the living room of a detached house in Jollas, Helsinki. 38 houses of type 957, designed by architect Toivo J\u00e4ntti, were built in the Hepokalliontie residential area. Their construction was financed by the state-subsidised Arava loans. Source: Central Archives for Finnish Business Records\u2019 (ELKA)
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
During the Second World War, Puutalo company supplied large quantities of barracks and other mobile military structures to German troops stationed in Norway and northern Finland. The Polar barrack model was specially developed for arctic conditions.
Source: Central Archives for Finnish Business Records\u2019 (ELKA) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
The partners of Puutalo company had factories all over Finland. Together, they were able to handle large orders. The photo shows the Pateniemi sawmill in Oulu. Logs floated along the waterways were sawn into timber, dried in the lumber yards and used as material for wooden panels.
Photo: Finnish Heritage Agency, JOKA Journalist photo archive, Kaleva<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Workmen erect the wall panels of the M\u00e4ntykoto-type house in the Marttila neighborhood of Helsinki, which was built for the disabled war veterans in 1942. After the foundations were laid, a team of three men was able to assemble the house in a couple of days.
Source: Foto Roos \/ Central Archives for Finnish Business Records\u2019 (ELKA)

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
A watercolour by illustrator Kaarlo Humalisto shows house type 739, intended for Australia. Designed for tropical climates, the houses featured lightweight wall constructions and long eaves to protect against rain and sun. Humalisto, who joined Puutalo in 1945, was responsible for the company’s visual identity until the mid-1960s. Source: Central Archives for Finnish Business Records\u2019 (ELKA)
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Puutalo at Perspektivet<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

New Standards<\/em> includes archival material such as drawings, photographs and advertisements that illustrate the ambitions of the post-war period, reveal new design innovations and illustrates how different building types were modified for different climates and cultural contexts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exhibition includes contemporary photographs of Puutalo<\/em> houses in Finland, Denmark and Colombia, commissioned from acclaimed photographer Juuso Westerlund<\/a> to show how these houses are inhabited today, and how they have been personalized over decades of use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

About the Exhibition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Originally commissioned and produced by Archinfo, the Information Centre for Finnish Architecture, for the Pavilion of Finland at the Biennale Architettura 2021 in Venice, the exhibition has since travelled in Finland. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Production: Archinfo \u2013 Information Centre for Finnish Architecture
Original concept, research and curatorial work: Laura Berger, Philip Tidwell and Kristo Vesikansa
Exhibition architecture: Philip Tidwell
Photography: Juuso Westerlund 
Graphic design: P\u00e4ivi Helander
Exhibition website: newstandards.info<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Perspektivet Museum:
Production: Marthe Fjellestad and Mari Hildung
Text translation: Marthe Fjellestad

Special thanks to Ulla Kallakivi and Katarina Siltavuori at Archinfo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":32360,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_trash_the_other_posts":false,"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"bc_tax_status":[54],"bc_tax_exhibition":[57],"class_list":["post-32358","bc_exhibition","type-bc_exhibition","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","bc_tax_status-active","bc_tax_exhibition-storgata"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/perspektivet.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bc_exhibition\/32358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/perspektivet.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bc_exhibition"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/perspektivet.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bc_exhibition"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/perspektivet.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bc_exhibition\/32358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32391,"href":"https:\/\/perspektivet.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bc_exhibition\/32358\/revisions\/32391"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perspektivet.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/perspektivet.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"bc_tax_status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perspektivet.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bc_tax_status?post=32358"},{"taxonomy":"bc_tax_exhibition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perspektivet.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bc_tax_exhibition?post=32358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}