Sentences

Prefabricated panel construction addressed the housing crisis, but the inability to effectively manage or service such large populations led to new challenges. In many Western countries, life in panel housing districts with inadequate infrastructure deteriorated rapidly, leading to the demolition of many of these areas. This paradox – where major technological advances introduce destabilising new issues for society – is known as the “progress trap.” A modern example of this trap is the escalating climate crisis.

In Jaakko Pietiläinen’s video work, the viewer is drawn into an endless maze of corridors, teetering between the real and the imagined – a liminal space where one state hasn’t fully shifted into another. Though I know the video is computer-generated, its photorealism and familiarity create a persistent sense of déjà vu: haven’t I seen all this somewhere before? In a way, I have – gliding along a horizontal escalator in yet another airport, walking down a seemingly endless hotel hallway, or staying in indistinctly similar Airbnbs.

Perhaps there are those for whom such repetition and predictability offer a sense of security, like a mobile home in an increasingly restless world. To me, however, this endless wandering through a maze of, at best, mediocre choices feels like yet another trap. Pietiläinen explores the tension between the architect’s vision and the final outcome, as well as how built environments shape individuals. If every object and building captures the era in which it was created, what do these uniform interiors reveal about our time?