The kitchen on the left in one of the exhibition houses in Katowice, 1948, shows two chairs almost identical to the Finnish Asko company’s chair nr 42. The bedroom on the right shows a sumptuous divan-type bed and decorative but light wooden furniture. The wall tapestries connect to local crafts while bringing warmth to the interior. © Polish press archives, picture archives, picture pap_19480201_01L, 1948 andpap_19480201_01C, unknown, 1948.
Migrating Modernist Interiors

Reception and Adaptation of Finnish Prefabricated Wooden Houses in Silesia, Poland, in the Postwar decades

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52200/docomomo.73.07

Keywords:

prefabrication, Reconstruction, temporary housing, moderin interiors, Finland, Poland

Abstract

After World War II, Finland and Poland needed swift housing reconstruction. In Finland, the solution was prefabricated, wooden detached houses, which soon were exported globally. In 1947-48, Poland imported around 4,000 Finnish houses to the mining areas in Silesia. The architecture was based on domestic Finnish models developed from modernist housing ideals. The division of the interiors focused on rational usage of space, labor, and hygiene. Today, most of the buildings are preserved, and it is possible to track the adaptations of the architecture from foreign temporary structures to local homes and heritage to provide data for developing future reconstruction architecture.
This article analyzes how Finnish modernist ideals on home and housing were circulated internationally by exporting prefabricated wooden housing to reconstruction areas in Upper Silesia. The main questions relate to how the Finnish ideology on modernist housing and interior planning was adapted to the local culture of home and housing in Silesia and what can be learned from the reception and adaption of the interiors when designing housing for reconstruction after crises today. The article is based on archival material from Finland and Poland, such as architectural drawings, maps, and documentation on trade and export. The main methodologies are architectural and design analysis combined with historiographic reading of archival data and literature. The article shows how architecture with interiors planned for Finnish domestic use became integrated into the Silesian home culture, transforming temporary housing into permanent homes.

How to Cite

Åkerfelt, M., Wilczynska, A., Fainholtz, T., & Veldi, M. (2025). Migrating Modernist Interiors: Reception and Adaptation of Finnish Prefabricated Wooden Houses in Silesia, Poland, in the Postwar decades. Docomomo Journal, (73), 63–71. https://doi.org/10.52200/docomomo.73.07

Published

2025-08-22

Issue

No. 73 (2025): Modern Interiors in Times of Crisis

Section

Essays

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Copyright (c) 2025 Mia Åkerfelt, Anna Wilczynska, Tzafrir Fainholtz, Martti Veldi

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Author Biographies

Mia Åkerfelt, Åbo Akademi University

Is a University Lecturer in Art History at Åbo Akademi University, Finland, and PI of the HoPE-project. Åkerfelt is specialized in the history of architecture. Main projects have examined the connection between architecture, ideology, and minority identity, prefabricated housing in Finland and have applied a historiographic perspective to the Finnish concept of architecture.

Anna Wilczynska, Åbo Akademi University

Is working as a post-doc researcher on the HoPE-project. She is interested in citizen science, landscape perceptions, and bottom-up urban development. She was also a part of the project and activities for the preservation and development of the Jazdów neighborhood of Puutalo houses in Warsaw.

Tzafrir Fainholtz, Åbo Akademi University

Is a Researcher in the HoPE project, Åbo Akademi University, Turku. Teaching Fellow at the Technion, IIT, Haifa. His main research topics are the history of architecture in the 20th century and the dissemination of modernist architecture. Member of the scientific committee for 20th-century heritage, ICOMOS, and Docomomo Israel.

Martti Veldi, Åbo Akademi University

Is a landscape archaeologist and lecturer at the Chair of Landscape Architecture, Estonian University of Life Sciences, and researcher in the HoPE project at the Åbo Akademi University, Turku. He is interested in landscape and settlement archeology, GIS, historical mapping, biographical approach to landscape studies, and long-term landscape change.

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