Martti Välikangas was a Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

  architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

 renowned for the design of so-called "Puu-Käpylä" [Wood-Käpylä], the Garden City

Garden city movement

The garden city movement is a method of urban planning that was initiated in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom. Garden cities were intended to be planned, self-contained communities surrounded by "greenbelts" , containing proportionate areas of residences, industry and...

 housing area in Käpylä

Käpylä

Käpylä is a neighbourhood of Helsinki with 7,600 inhabitants. Administratively speaking, Käpylä is a part of the Vanhakaupunki district.It is located between Kumpula, Oulunkylä and Koskela...

 near Helsinki, designed in the Nordic Classicism

Nordic Classicism

Nordic Classicism was a style of architecture that briefly blossomed in the Nordic countries between 1910 and 1930....

 style.

Välikangas studied architecture at Helsinki University of Technology

Helsinki University of Technology

Aalto University School of Science and Technology , was the temporary name for Helsinki University of Technology during the process of forming the Aalto University...

, qualifying as an architect in 1917. In 1921 he left on a study tour of Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 (as well as visiting the other Nordic countries, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and north Africa

North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...

), a common practice at that time for architects in the Nordic countries who were turning away from National Romanticism

National Romantic Style

The National Romantic style was a Nordic architectural style that was part of the national romantic movement during the late 19th and early 20th century. Designers turned to early Medieval and even prehistoric precedents to construct a style appropriate to the perceived character of a people...

.

After qualifying Välikangas worked in Yuzovka in Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 (present-day Donetsk

Donetsk

Donetsk , is a large city in eastern Ukraine on the Kalmius river. Administratively, it is a center of Donetsk Oblast, while historically, it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the economic and cultural Donets Basin region...

 in the Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

), but had to leave in a hurry with the onset of the Bolshevik Revolution. On his return he worked for the Brändö Villastad company as well as in the architect’s office of Gösta Juslén and, from 1918 to 1920, in the office of Frosterus and Gripenberg. Välikangas founded his own office in 1920, while also working elsewhere. He was chief architect at the National Board of Building from 1937 until the Winter War

Winter War

The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...

 in 1940. From 1942 to 1944 he was head of the office responsible for post-war reconstruction.

For a long time Välikangas acted as the director of the board responsible for the restoration of Turku Castle

Turku Castle

Turku Castle is a monument of Finnish history situated in the city of Turku in Finland. Together with Turku Cathedral, the castle is one of the oldest buildings still in use in Finland. Turku Castle is the largest surviving medieval building in Finland and one of the largest surviving medieval...

. From 1928 to 1930 he was Editor-in-Chief of the Finnish Architectural Review, in doing so influencing the spread of Modernist architecture in Finland.

Välikangas’s most notable work is the Puu-Käpylä [‘wood Käpylä’] Garden Suburb in Käpylä

Käpylä

Käpylä is a neighbourhood of Helsinki with 7,600 inhabitants. Administratively speaking, Käpylä is a part of the Vanhakaupunki district.It is located between Kumpula, Oulunkylä and Koskela...

 on the then northern edge of Helsinki, built from 1920 to 1925, a commission he received at the age of 26. Puu-käpylä was a model workers’ housing area, built at a time when there was a bad housing problem for workers in the city. The construction follows the typical Finnish vernacular method: square-log construction then faced in weatherboarding. However, the whole process was partly industrialized, and the area is regarded as the first prefabricated housing area in Finland. The mostly 2-storey semi-detached timber houses are arranged around sheltered courtyards, where originally the tenants’ vegetable gardens were sited. The colours vary slightly from one house to another, but with a dominance of traditional red ochre. The area is still mostly occupied by working-class families though it has also been a popular residential area for professional types, especially architects – and it also has become a favourite tourist attraction.

The Olympic Games were due to take place in Helsinki in 1940 (but were cancelled due to the Second World War, to be held eventually in Helsinki in 1952

1952 Summer Olympics

The 1952 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Helsinki, Finland in 1952. Helsinki had been earlier given the 1940 Summer Olympics, which were cancelled due to World War II...

), and Välikangas participated in the design of the Olympic Village, together with architect Hilding Ekelund. Välikangas also designed the Olympic Riding Hall.

Other buildings designed by Välikangas in Helsinki include: large apartment blocks Sturenkatu 40 and Hauhontie 4-8 (1924-25), the Helsinki V school (Apollonkatu 11), and apartment blocks at Eerikinkatu 15, Vuorikatu 9 and on Abrahaminkatu. Cinema theatre Orion (Eerikinkatu 15) represents a fine Art Deco interior.

Välikangas also designed a number of buildings in the town of Mikkeli

Mikkeli

Mikkeli is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in what used to be the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water...

: the gate building of the Sports Park (1934), the bus station (1934), Harju Chapel (1937), an extension to the Päämaja School (1937), the Jama Commercial building and civic defence building (1938), and Savings Bank building (1940); and in the county of Savo

Savo

Savo may refer to:* Savo Island near Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands* Battle of Savo Island, 9 August 1942* Savonian dialects of the Finnish language* Savonia or , a historical province of Finland* Savo - a main-belt asteroid...

: the Savonlinna Central Hospital, the Parkumäki Memeorial (1929), and the Koikkala Church in Juva

Juva

Juva is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Southern Savonia region some North-East of Helsinki. It was founded on 19 January 1442, and is the oldest parish/municipality in Finland whose exact date of birth is known...

(1959).

The archives of Martti Välikangas are in the possession of the Museum of Finnish Architecture in Helsinki.