Futuro

Helsinki, 17 degrees




There are no passengers on spaceship earth. We are all crew.

Today I had the opportunity the leave earth for some ten minutes or so. You might be asking yourself how this is possible, so let me explain. This afternoon I had the chance to explore the Futuro house, on display in Helsinki's neighboring city Espoo at exhibition center Weegee. This icon of the so called space-age architecture, dating back to the turn of the decades of 1960 and 1970, is a flying saucer looking portable plastic house called Futuro, designed by a Finnish architect Matti Suuronen back in 1968.

The house represents very well its contemporary way of thinking and living with a strong confidence in the future, in many languages named futuro. At the time when it was built people saw on the blurry TV-screen as Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon as a first human being. Already then, a Russian cosmonaut had already been flying in the orbit in 1961. The space seemed to offer an enormous amount of potential for becoming a new playground for the human nation.


Me and my colleague joked around as "tourists"...

There are known to be only four Futuros left in Finland, but around 80 in the world. Have you seen one?

The Futuro house can be transported in parts or as a whole by truck or as it originally was proposed; assembled as a whole, beneath a helicopter, how cool is that?

It takes approximately two days to assemble and needs two or more people to build, and a crane of course.


The Futuro house was designed in the late 60s, in the era of high expectations of a future and human abilities to create almost anything. That was the time of the economic growth after World War II and the improved quality of life brightened people’s attitudes towards the future. Wouldn't it be nice to go back to being that optimistic about the future?

Source
Futuro was advertised as convenient for various uses: ski, fishing and hunting cabins or just as a normal leisure house. It has been used as all of them but in addition as a bank, restaurant, bar and café and also as a boutique and an exhibition hall. What do you think is its right use?

Brittish The Guardian has written a nice article about the Futuro house on display in Espoo. Read it here. You can also read a fun blog post about Futuro houses on Hooked on Houses. If you're really interested, there's even been made a thesis about the subject which you find as a pdf file here.

My "future outfit" was flight attendant like, haha. At least that's what I heard this morning as I was leaving home, even though my better half didn't know that I was heading this afternoon for a space ride.


What's your opinion?

  1. amazing place dear!!
    and love your red dress!!super cute!!
    xoxo=)

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  2. Really pretty dress, such a nice color :)

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  3. Ihana asu! ♥ Toi punainen mekko on upea sun päälläs ja tuo huivi kruunaa sen kauniisti. :) xoxo ♥

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  4. Wow amazing place! love the look too!!! ;)

    http://themadcreationist.blogspot.it/

    Giuseppe

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  5. Great look!

    [fashionablyfly.blogspot.com]

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