Communal Living for Single Women in 1920s Finland: Housing Company Eureka
Since March is the month when we have the International Women’s Day and, in Finland, Minna Canth’s Day, the Day of Equality (the 19th of March) and since it is also Women’s History Month, I thought the most appropriate way to start this blog about the history housing and everyday life in Finland would be to write about single women’s housing. More specifically, I want to focus on a building called Eureka – an apartment block with a central kitchen built in 1922 in Helsinki by single women for single women. The building was designed by architect Armas Lindgren and is located in an area of Helsinki called Taka-Töölö. Photo: Våra Kvinnor 3/1922. Problems with single women’s housing Even though most housing discussions and planning was focused on families in early 20th century Finland, the poor living conditions of single (or lonely as they were then called) middle- and upper-class women also became a cause for concern. Changes in the marriage market and a surplus of unmarr...