Helsinki Day: Hope for something better – Helsinki in the 1950s–1970s

The City Museum celebrates Helsinki Day by inviting visitors on a trip through time to Helsinki in the 1950s–1970s! The day’s programme will be in Finnish.

What kinds of layers are related to the spirit and cityscape of the time? How do photographs reveal what was going on in the capital city? The baby-boom generation spent their youth and transitioned into adulthood in the 1950s–1970s, and many phenomena from that period have left lasting memory imprints: brick-and-mortar stores, bus traffic jams before the metro, and street fashion fads. Helsinki grew into an urban environment. In the inner city, old buildings made way for new ones. By contrast, suburbs were built to alleviate the housing shortage of the time.

The event will be kicked off with introductory presentations by Architect Mikko Lindqvist from the City Museum and Professor of European History Laura Kolbe. Next, researcher Satu Savia will present colour photo gems from the book Helsinki väreissä (‘Helsinki in Colour’). The discussion will be joined by Laura Kolbe, Mikko Lindqvist and Ph.D. Pekka Sauri. Satu Savia will moderate the discussion and jog the memories of both the discussion participants and the audience. Come listen and talk with us! The museum will be open until 20.00.

17.00 Mikko Lindqvist: Highlights from the growth and changes of Helsinki in the 1950s–1970s 17.30 Laura Kolbe The legacy of 1968 – the city under tension and the cross pressures of politics, ideologies and the Cold War 18.00 Satu Savia: Helsinki in colour – colour photo gems 18.15 discussion and reminiscing

Photo: Pedestrians crossing Kalevankatu at the Mannerheimintie end in 1977. Pekka Punkari / Helsinki City Museum.