Martti Buddén was born on 1 August 1893 in the Northern Savonia. His family changed the family name Buddén to Välikangas in 1906, as a part of the finnicisation movement. Martti Välikangas took matriculation examination in 1911 and received his diploma of architecture from the Helsinki University of Technology in 1917.

After finishing his studies, Välikangas worked in Jusowka, Russia for a short period in 1917. The next year he worked at AB Brändö Villastad, which was a joint-stock-company, established by architects to build a villa district to Kulosaari island, east to Helsinki city centre. Välikangas even worked at the private offices of Gösta Juslén and Frosterus & Gripenberg until establishing his own office in 1920.

The years 1920-1925 Martti Välikangas was the principal architect of the classicist Puu-Käpylä wooden house district. It is one of his main works, along with the functionalist Olympic village, built at the end of the 1930s for the intended 1940 Helsinki Olympics. The years 1928-1930 Välikangas was the editor in chief of the Finnish Architectural Review. Apart from the private office, Välikangas was the principal architect of the National Board of Public Building 1937-1940.

Martti Välikangas died at the age of 79, on 9 May 1973 in Helsinki.