Markus Lähteenmäki
Dr. Sc. ETH Zurich, 2022
MA, Courtauld Institute, University of London, 2013
Born in Helsinki, 1988
I am a historian and curator of art and architecture, a researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) and the Editor-in-Chief of Architectural Histories, Europe’s leading journal dedicated to architectural history and a pioneer in the field of open access academic publishing.
My research interests include questions on the relationship of art and architecture with power, cultures of empire, display and mediation of architecture, histories of avant-garde, as well as creative processes of art and design, in particular drawings.
My current project at (EPFL), funded by Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) is titled "Empire and Revolution: Architectures of (un)making Russian imperialism". It continues research conducted, also with funding from SNSF, at the Institute for Advanced Studies, University College London for 2023–2024.
I'm currently finalising a book Unmaking the Empire: Architecture and the City in Revolutionary Russia, and two edited volumes on power, art, media, and architecture. I was the convenor and General Chair of the EAHN Thematic Conference States in Between: Architecture and Empire in East Europe and North Eurasia that took place in Helsinki in June 2023.
I received my doctorate in history of architecture from ETH Zurich and my MA in history of art from the Courtauld Institute, University of London. In 2014–2016 I worked as the inaugural Director of Projects at Drawing Matter, a trailblazing project on architectural drawings, collections and their mediation. I had a key role in setting it up on track and developing its modes of operation from academic collaborations to exhibitions and publications and I continue to advise the project on an informal basis.
Most recently I have taught history and critical thinking to architects at the Architecture Deparment of Estonian Academy of Arts and to art historians at the Deparment of Cultures of University of Helsinki. Previously I have also led my own courses at ETH and London Metropolitan University as well as directed seminar series and workshops at a number of other institutions, including the AA, RCA, and Kharkiv School of Architecture.
My research and writing has been published in the world’s leading academic journals such as Comparative Studies in Sociey and History and Art History, in leading publications in the field of architectural culture and research, including Harvard Design Magazine, Log, Architectural Review, as well as in Finland´s largest daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. My research and exhibitions have been featured among others by the Financial Times, BBC, Telegraph and as "Critic´s Pick" in Art Forum.
I have collaborated on exhibitions with both major public institutions such as Swiss Architecture Museum and ETH as well as leading private galleries such as Hauser & Wirth. My latest curatorial projects include From Sky to Earth: Tselinny by Asif Khan an exhibition about regenerative and decolonial design to open in September at Tselinny Center in Almaty, Instruments of Occupation, a collaboration with the artists and architects Dan Dubowitz and Tuomas Toivonen to explore the meanings of natural landscapes scarred by imperial powers, and Planetarium, a project with the architects Alexander Brodsky and Peter Märkli to explore the creative power of drawing and display in architecture.
I am a member of the Helsinki and Uusima Hospital District Arts Council, working to bring arts and culture to hospital enviroments across the over 20 hospitals of the district that serve 2 million people. I am a Councillor of European Architectural History Network (EAHN) and a board member of Finnish Association of Art Historians.