Designing Futures in Early Regional Planning of Finnish Lapland

Abstract

The reconstruction of Lapland after World War II did not mean merely restoring the pre-war infrastructure and buildings; Lapland was both reconstructed and built afresh at the same time. Reconstruction was viewed by planners and architects as an inspiring challenge to modernise the devastated areas. Lapland region was considered a real-life laboratory for arranging novel ways for “living, moving and working”. Almost all the rapids of Finland´s longest river, the Kemijoki, were harnessed during the 1950s and 1960s. The construction of hydropower plants changed both the mental and physical landscape of Northern Finland in ways that were not anticipated in the planning stage of the projects. One of the rapids harnessed on the Kemijoki River was Pirttikoski. During the construction years (1955-1959) the population of Pirttikoski grew from zero to almost 4000. In this article I will discuss the kinds of modernising influences that the construction of the power plants introduced into the culture and everyday lives of the people living in the region, asking what was the ethos of regional planning articulated in the planning of both the community and the region. I will further explore what was the anticipated future society that the designers of Lapland regional plan in the 1950s were pursuing. In this article the village of Pirttikoski serves as a model community in two ways. Firstly, Pirttikoski was originally designed as an experimental model community for creating solutions for future power plant construction site communities. Secondly, it is a model village of my study, a micro case from which I will examine the process of designing a regional plan for Lapland in the 1950s.