The photographs take us back to the beginning of the 1970’s, when Espoo was a quickly changing municipality in the middle of a hectic change into a city. The grain fields had to give way and new neighbourhoods were built to meet the needs of the growing city.

The change in the cultural landscape has been well preserved in Kenzi Rinno’s photos. The photographer Kenzi Rinno (f/k/a Kenji Rinno) collaborated with the Espoo City Museum in the beginning of the 1970’s. He, and his then spouse, museum employee Soile Rinno, took pictures of buildings under threat of being demolished, and objects disappearing under new builds in areas under development.

The documentation was done with few resources, driving around in a borrowed car after work taking pictures with their personal camera. The area belonging to the Jorvi farmstead next to the museum stood in front of huge changes and was thus an interesting target. The plans of building the IKEA store were also current at the time.

Soile Rinno’s thoughts on the Jorvi area and the changes to the plot reserved for IKEA. Interview from 2015.

Everybody knew that Jorvi hospital was coming, or that it was being planned. The road to Kauniainen passed Glims, a hilly, twisty, beautiful road. The thought was that the ambulances wouldn’t drive there. Where would the buildings like those in Meilahti fit? But there they are now.

A second such area development issue was the IKEA plot. Many were against it along with the museum. At the same time there was a lot being demolished in Turku too, and the topic was discussed extensively. In Espoo they were up to date, but the museum was a small game piece in the whole game. They saw where Espoo was headed at the museum.

Please come and explore the lost landscapes of the 70’s!

Kenzi Rinno’s pictures from the year 1970 at Glims Farmstead Museum

The event “Kenzi Rinno’s pictures from the year 1970 at Glims Farmstead Museum” has ended