UFO seen in Helsinki

Anyone walking through Kaisaniemi Park in central Helsinki this week might find themselves doing a double take. Sitting outside the Kaisaniemi Botanic Garden is a gleaming white structure that looks suspiciously like a flying saucer.

It is, in fact, a Futuro House, one of the strangest and most instantly recognisable creations in Finnish design history. It will remain in the park until 6 September 2026 as part of the Helsinki Design Week programme.

Finnish architect Matti Suuronen designed the Futuro in 1968, at the height of Space Age optimism. Made from fibreglass-reinforced plastic and perched on legs, the elliptical prefabricated house was designed to be lightweight, easily transported and installed almost anywhere.

The dream was to mass-produce Futuro Houses and send them conquering the world. That never quite happened, although a small number were built. In the Helsinki area, you can see one year-round behind the WeeGee Exhibition Centre in Espoo. In Paris, meanwhile, a Finnish UFO has found a rather fitting second life at the Marché Dauphine flea market.

The Futuro now sitting in Kaisaniemi is a particularly special specimen. Futuro No. 21 is newly made according to Suuronen’s original plans – reportedly the first completely new Futuro seen in Finland for almost 60 years. It was produced using the original moulds, which were restored especially for the project.

Don’t expect a new Futuro housing boom, though. The moulds are now so old and fragile that only a handful more buildings can be made from them.

Inside, another giant of Finnish design awaits. For Helsinki Design Week, the Futuro has been furnished with Marimekko products, bringing two very different but equally iconic examples of 1960s Finnish design under one decidedly space-age roof. The interior features Marimekko prints by Danish textile artist and designer Vibeke Rohland, created during her year-long residency at the company’s textile printing factory in Herttoniemi.

The Futuro House can be visited at Kaisaniemi Botanic Garden from 28 August to 6 September 2026. Admission is free, but advance registration is required, and only a limited number of visitors can enter the house at a time.

So if you spot a UFO in central Helsinki this week, don’t panic. You may even be allowed inside.