Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
I am specialized in the history of architecture within the field of art history. My recent research projects have focused on a historiographic understanding of the relation between architecture and ideologies. Main theoretical frameworks included in my research have been connected to historiography, nationalism, identities, gender, post-colonial studies, female pioneers in architecture, minority studies, social history, cultural heritage, design history and fashion history.
I am currently the PI for the Kone-funded project HoPE-Housing, Prefabrication and Export - The Architecture of Reconstruction in Times of Crisis. The project examines the role of prefabricated housing architecture in the aftermath of crises, learning from the experiences of the Finnish company Puutalo Oy’s housing export to Poland and Israel between 1940 and 1980. The aim is to examine which mechanisms in the design, fabrication, placement and use of the Puutalo houses contributed to the development of the buildings from temporary housing to homes, providing data for contemporary development of sustainable reconstruction architecture.
Some of my upcoming articles discuss themes as cultural heritage and the export of Finnish prefabricated wooden houses during the post-war years, the historiography of the concept of architecture in Finland as well as on how the myth of the little red cottage as something genuinely Scandinavian was created. Another upcoming project is a popular book on the architectural history of the summer cottage architecture in the Vaasa archipelago as well as a monography on the project “to construct Fenno-Swedishness: the housing association for the Swedish speaking parts of Finland and their drawings for ideal homes 1938-1969”.
I have a fixed position as university lecturer at Åbo Akademi University with responsibility for all teaching on bachelor level. I teach courses on general western and Finnish art history, courses in art historical methodology, bachelor seminars as well as supervising all bachelor theses. I am also supervisor for all students on master and doctoral level who research architectural topics. In 2020, I had the main responsibility for renewing the content in all courses on bachelor level toward a greater focus on theoretical and historiographical perspectives on the art historical education.
After finishing my PhD För fremlingarnes trefnad – Byggmästaren Hilda Hongell och iscensättningen av badorten Mariehamn på 1890-talet on the first female master-builder Hilda Hongell in 2011, I had a temporary position as university teacher at Åbo Akademi University until 2013, after which I became post-doc researcher. My projects started with Mass-produced individualism. Ideology and practice in the Finnish prefabricated detached house between 1960 and 2010 in 2014-2015. The next project was Att bygga finlandssvenskhet. Bostadsföreningen för det svenska Finlands idealhemsritningar 1938–1969 between 2016 and 2018. A briefer project on The boundaries of “good architecture”. The definition of architecture in the discussion on the prefabricated detached house in Finland in the 20th century was conducted in 2018. The last project was En röd liten stuga – myten om allmogearkitekturen och dess betydelse i den finlandssvenska arkitekturdiskussionen under 1900-talet in 2019-2020.
I enjoy engaging in the academic society, both in my own university and internationally. I have been a long-time secretary in the FUURT-researchers union local branch at Åbo Akademi, engaging in policy questions on management and employment both within the university and on a national level. I am currently the secretary of NORDIK – The Nordic Association for Art Historians, participating in arranging the next NORDIK all-digital conference in 2022. I am also a member of the advisory board of Bebyggelsehistorisk tidskrift, the main Scandinavian scientific journal on architectural history. I have also been engaged in editing special issues of the Finnish TAHITI- taidehistoria tieteenä – scientific journal. Post-Covid I hope to be able to continue giving public lectures on topics related to my research and teaching.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Education/Academic qualification
PhD, För fremlingarnes trefnad - Byggmästaren Hilda Hongell och iscensättningen av badorten Mariehamn på 1890-talet, Åbo Akademi University
1 Aug 2007 → 14 Dec 2011
Award Date: 14 Dec 2011
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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HoPE: Housing, Prefabrication and Export – the Architecture of Reconstruction in Times of Crises
Åkerfelt, M. (Principal Investigator), Fainholtz, T. (Co-Investigator) & Wilczynska, A. (Co-Investigator)
01/05/22 → 01/06/26
Project: Foundation
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En röd liten stuga – myten om allmogearkitekturen och dess betydelse i den finlandssvenska arkitekturdiskussionen under 1900-talet.
Åkerfelt, M. (Principal Investigator)
01/09/18 → 31/03/20
Project: Scholarship
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The boundaries of “good architecture”. The definition of architecture in the discussion on the prefabricated detached house in Finland in the 20th century.
Åkerfelt, M. (Principal Investigator)
01/03/18 → 31/08/18
Project: Scholarship
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Att bygga finlandssvenskhet. Bostadsföreningen för det svenska Finlands idealhemsritningar 1938–1969
Åkerfelt, M. (Principal Investigator)
01/03/16 → 28/02/18
Project: Scholarship
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Mass-produced individualism. Ideology and practice in the Finnish prefabricated detached house between 1960 and 2010.
Åkerfelt, M. (Principal Investigator)
01/01/14 → 30/10/15
Project: Scholarship
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Assembling a Home: Politics, Trauma, and the Finnish Export of Prefabricated Homes
Åkerfelt, M., Fainholtz, T. & Wilczynska, A., 2024, Between Conventional and Experimental: Mass Housing and Prefabrication in Modernist Architecture. Hess, R., Ben-Asher Gitler, I., Fainholtz, T. & Allweil, Y. (eds.). Leuven university press, p. 55-75 22 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceeding › Chapter › Scientific › peer-review
Open Access -
Aktörskap, nätverk och arkitektur: Perspektiv på Wivi Lönn som kvinnlig pionjär
Åkerfelt, M., 10 May 2023, In: TAHITI. 13, 1Translated title of the contribution :Agency, networks and architecture: Perspectives on Wivi Lönn as female pioneer Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review › Scientific › peer-review
Open AccessFile16 Downloads (Pure) -
From crisis housing to cultural heritage. The changing views on exported Finnish wooden houses from the post-war decades
Åkerfelt, M., Wilczynska, A. & Fainholtz, T., 17 Jun 2023, CITIES IN EVOLUTION DIACHRONIC TRANSFORMATIONS OF URBAN AND RURAL SETTLEMENTS Proceedings Volume III. Istanbul: DRUM Press, Vol. 5. p. 121-130 10 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Scientific › peer-review
14 Downloads (Pure) -
The Myth of the Little Red Cottage: the Circulation of Vernacular Romanticism in Scandinavian Architecture in the Twentieth Century
Åkerfelt, M., 2023, Nordic Design in Translation: The Circulation of Objects, Ideas and Practices. Ashby, C. & Kallestrup, S. (eds.). Oxford, Berlin, Bruxelles, Chennai, Lausanne, New York: Peter Lang, p. 155-182Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceeding › Chapter › Scientific › peer-review
Open AccessFile3 Downloads (Pure) -
Arkkitehtuurista ja sen tutkimisesta
Åkerfelt, M. & Ripatti, A., 25 May 2022, In: TAHITI. 12, 2, p. 4-6Translated title of the contribution :On architecture and architectural research Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › Scientific
Open AccessFile23 Downloads (Pure)
Activities
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To build a Nation – on Nationalism in architectural research
Åkerfelt, M. (Speaker)
23 Jan 2025Activity: Talk or presentation › Public or invited talk
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Finnish prefabricated wooden houses in Poland, Israel and Estonia – from temporary housing to heritage values, how are local communities involved?
Veldi, M. (Speaker), Fainholtz, T. (Speaker), Åkerfelt, M. (Contributor) & Wilczynska, A. (Contributor)
2 Oct 2024Activity: Talk or presentation › Conference presentation
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För fremlingarnes trefnad – byggmästaren Hilda Hongell och iscensättningen av badorten Mariehamn på 1890-talet
Åkerfelt, M. (Speaker)
6 Sept 2024Activity: Talk or presentation › Conference presentation
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Negotiated Designs – On methodology and cultural diplomacy elucidating the history of Finland's export of prefabricated houses during the post war era
Åkerfelt, M. (Speaker), Fainholtz, T. (Speaker) & Wilczynska, A. (Contributor)
6 Jun 2024Activity: Talk or presentation › Conference presentation
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Tzafrir Fainholtz
Åkerfelt, M. (Host)
1 Jan 2024 → 31 Dec 2024Activity: Hosting a visitor › Hosting an academic visitor
Press/Media
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När Svenskfinland skulle moderniseras var hemmet och kvinnan i fokus
17/03/19
1 Media contribution
Press/Media