UFO Living

Marauding UFO dreams rediscovered: in the 1970s, the futuristic round houses designed by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen were the expression of a Utopia that had become reality. Modern, cheerful and optimistic about the future, the UFO-like houses made of fibreglass and polyurethane sheathing landed in numerous places around the world. Following space-age thinking, many artists and designers were interested in these unusual dwellings. Most of the Futuro and Venturo houses disappeared and have long been forgotten. Unexpectedly, however, the Munich photographer Michael Nischke stumbled across a whole cluster of these design icons during a visit to Taiwan: overlooked and neglected, they were gradually rotting away. The series he created there has its very own futuristic and morbid charm, and is now being exhibited in Hamburg for the first time.

LFI: How did you discover Matti Suuronen's houses in Taiwan?
Michael Nischke: My work has had a focus on questions of unusual architecture for many years now. So, for example, I've captured black and white images of urban architecture in Pyongyang (North Korea), photographed 1930s Italian architecture in Asmara (Eritrea), and finally the Futuro and Venturo houses in Taiwan. When we participated in TAIWAN PHOTO in 2018 and 2019, I came across the subject while doing research. In Taiwan itself, the "UFO houses" are almost unknown. Furthermore, the information I was given was that they must have already been demolished. In fact, this referred to another settlement on the west coast. It's also hard to get any information over there, which also has to do with the mystical stories that surround this project.

Was it hard in the end to find the site?
At the beginning of February 2020, during my UNPLUGGED PHOTOGRAPHY VOL 3.0 exhibition at the 1839 Contemporary Gallery – we spent a week in Taipei and New Taipei. The photos were taken during that time. We had to ask around a bit until we could get a taxi. They either told us they didn't know anything about the settlement or that they didn't want to go there. The deserted site had a very peculiar atmosphere – especially in the evening.

How might we envision the place?
The settlement lies directly on the beach, somewhat on the outskirts. You can only get to the entrance through a car park in front of an abandoned and derelict hotel complex. Some of the houses are already missing, and most are badly damaged and dilapidated. A few seem to be inhabited from time to time. Almost all the entrances are blocked. 

The UFO LIVING series remains at the VisuleX Gallery in Hamburg until November 5. VisuleX, Loogestraße 6, 20249 Hamburg.