The Kasper Stromman Design Blog

Puhos shopping centre

When Puhos shopping centre opened in 1965 it was the largest in Finland. Designed by architect Erkki Karvinen it catered for the quickly growing population of the newly built suburb of Puotinharju.

The shopping centre was very popular from day one, and customers appreciated such upscale modern features as a fountain, children’s playground and one of the country’s first outdoor escalators. So popular was this establishement in fact that in the 1980s the shopping centre had became too small, and the playground was demolished in favour for more retail space to be built. Over the following years the shopping centre tripled in size.

But then came the shock. In 1984 state-of-the-art shopping centre Itäkeskus opened across the road. Puhos suddenly became hopelessly outdated and a slow decline started.

So, the upscale commercial operations moved across the road thirty years ago. But that’s not to say there wouldn’t be any business at all left. Here’s a Puhos ABC:

A is for A-oikeudet

Isn’t it funny that if an establishment has to advertise the fact that they are fully licensed you sort of expect the clientele to be of the heavy drinking kind? We’re not saying it’s true in this case, of course.

B is for Bingo

Ah, bingo halls. The tell-tale sign of unwanted retail space. Not necesserary true of Puhos of course, but let’s just say there ain’t no bingo halls across the road at Itäkeskus.

C is for Çayhane

This we believe, is some kind of Turkish tea house. The international presence is strong anyway, since there is not one but two Thai massage parlours next to it.

So business is not as bad as you would think – despite the fact that Itäkeskus (which for some strange reason was renamed Itis recently) is undergoing a complete modernization as we speak.

So next time you visit Puhos be sure to toss a coin in the famous fountain, and wish Puhos happy shopping for years to come.

Except of course that the fountain was dismantled in the early 2000s.