The Finnish Museum of Architecture exhibition celebrates both the 150th anniversary of the birth of Wivi Lönn, Finland's most important female architect, and the 80th anniversary of "Architecta", which was founded on the occasion of Lönn's 70th birthday in 1942. During these years, the association has provided professional support, with initiatives such as a platform to write the history of Finnish women architects, generating an extensive archive of their activity and work.
"Wivi Lönn was a master at creating comfortable functionality in her buildings and using even scarce resources to her advantage. She closely followed the developing trends in architecture and her design was always contemporary. At the same time, he had his recognizable style based on the precise identification of users' needs. During his lifetime, he received much less recognition than, for example, Eliel Saarinen and Lars Sonck, who belonged to the same generation, even though Lönn's extensive output was by no means qualitatively inferior to theirs. It is good to emphasize now the importance of Lönn's exemplary career."
Anna Autio.
Architecta's excursion to Denmark. 1951. © Architecta archives. Image courtesy of National Archives of Finland.
"During the early days of Wivi Lönn's career, at the beginning of the 20th century, the social situation of women was very different from today. There were many obstacles and hurdles in the way of a woman's professional training. In Lönn's time, there were no other women architects in Finland who ran their own offices and were successful in architectural competitions. Why? Why were there no other independent women architects in Finland? The exhibition tries to find answers to these questions as well."
Jutta Tynkkynen.
"The history of the communities of women architects sharpens our understanding of the work and life of architects. In the exhibition, a large number of women architects are mentioned by name, who like a diverse group are in my opinion perhaps even the most important part of the whole. To what extent can an individual architectural narrative be true? We need new ways of looking at things, which dismantle the myths of person-centered architecture"
Hanna Tyvelä, who has researched the history of Architects for the exhibition.
"The exhibition spans from Wivi Lönn to the present day and also broadens the perspective to encompass international debates. Feminist architects pay attention to the importance of gender and equality in the field of architecture. For example, the Muslim Women in Architecture collective, founded in London, highlights the perspectives of minority architects."
Marja Rautaharju.
The exhibition has been jointly curated by the staff of the Museum of Finnish Architecture, Anna Autio (curator of collections), Jutta Tynkkynen (curator of exhibitions), and Marja Rautaharju (head of exhibition services), together with art historian and Ph.D. researcher Hanna Tyvelä. The exhibition was designed by designer Hanna Anonen.
Book: Wivi Lönn 1872–1966 — Arkkitehti
The exhibition book being published in honor of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Wivi Lönn will be the first collection of articles focusing on her diverse work as an architect. The book consists of five expert articles that look at different aspects of her production and career. Among other things, the book examines Lönn as a designer of housing and schools, discusses her travels, and analyses her production in relation to the prevailing society and networks that proved important to her. The book’s contributing authors are Finland’s leading experts on Wivi Lönn’s architecture: Renja Suominen-Kokkonen, Susanna Aaltonen, Hanna Tyvelä, and Anna-Leena Lehto.
