Yes, we’re inspired by the weather, says Arni Aromaa, an industrial designer with Pentagon, as we exchange pleasantries in a frozen Senate Square in Helsinki. Pentagon is one of 15 practices taking part in Wonderwater Frozen Lights, an event aimed at encouraging people to consider their water consumption through the design of an ice lantern, taking place during Open Doors Weekend. ‘Helsinki is big in some ways – it’s the largest city in Finland. But in other ways, it’s quite small,’ he says., ‘And it’s also perfectly placed between the East and the West."
Helsinki has the design world’s attention as it basks in being the World Design Capital for 2012, which coincides with the 200th anniversary of Helsinki being made the Finnish capital. It may be relatively tiny in population terms – Helsinki has just 600,000 inhabitants and the country as a whole just 5.4 million, but it nontheless punches above its weight in terms of design and architecture.
Having been part of Sweden for 650 years and a Russian grand duchy for another 150 years, when Finland finally became independent in 1917 there was a strong desire to establish a national identity, and what better way than through the built environment? A tour of the city clearly shows the development of the Finnish art-nouveau style from the turn of the 20th century.
And just as this year’s Olympics in London have been a real boon for that city’s architecture, so the same was true for Helsinki 60 years ago. The Olympic stadium by Yrjö Lindgren and Toivo Jantti for example, with its fantastic functionalist tower, is still impressive today, and fabric firm Marimekko has reissued its Helsinki fabric featuring the city skyline to commemorate the anniversary of when the Olympic Games came to town.
And then there’s the legacy left by seminal Finnish designer Alvar Aalto throughout Helsinki, from the city’s Academy bookstore, the Finlandia Hall and the Savoy Hotel restaurant. His dedication to streamlined curves and modernist simplicity look all the more beautiful when covered in centimeters of snow.
But Aalto isn’t the be-all and end-all of Finnish design, says Juulia Kauste, director of the Museum of Finnish Architecture. ‘Alvar Aalto was undoubtedly a great man but there is this perception that after him nothing happened, but that’s not true at all,’ she says.
The Finns it seems aren’t afraid to commission the best in today’s international names – American architect Steven Holl was commissioned for Helsinki’s curvy contemporary art museum for instance. Nor is experience a barrier to getting something built in Helsinki either. Younger practices can enter architectural competitions on the same footing as more established firms – and beat them. ‘We were really shocked when we found out we’d won,’ says Ville Hara who along with Anu Puustinen operates as
Helsinki-based Avanto architecture practice, speaking at The Architecture Foundation in London as part of an international exchange programme. Avanto clinched the Chapel of St Lawrence project in Vantaa, which is in the Helsinki municipal area, and the groovily organic-shaped Helsinki zoo lookout tower.
Another young practice is ALA, which is currently working on a project entitled Cloud City. This uses the large courtyard of a Nokia cable factory from the Thirties to build a residential block. As part of the community consultation, balloons are in place to indicate just how high this project would be – much better than peering at a scale-model, that’s for sure. ‘If the project gains planning permission during 2012 it will be built by 2014,’ says ALA partner Samuli Woolston.
So how did Helsinki develop such as passion for design? Pekka Timonen, executive director of the World Design Capital Helsinki 2012, uses my notebook to draw a graph explaining how Helsinki strikes just the right balance between fun and functionality. Plus, he says, ‘our design doesn’t grow from nobility. It’s not considered a luxury. It’s not created for the elite. It’s about everyday need with limited resources’.
Ilkka Suppanen, another designer I catch up with in a sub-zero Senate Square concurs: ‘I did a bit of work in Italy, and over there design is considered quite exclusive, whereas here in Finland it’s an inclusive thing.’ Suppanen’s most recent designs include a fireplace for Iittala, famous for its glassware and crockery. A visit to Ittala’s factory in the Arabia district demonstrates a homegrown Helsinki design success story from its inception in 1881. Iittala’s product portfolio exemplifies Finnish design style: functional yet easy on the eye. Take the Teema glass 9 designed by Aalto’s wife Aino 80 years ago. Like much of Finnish design, it is inspired by nature, in this case the rings created when a stone in thrown into water. It is stackable and therefore space saving yet appealing enough to remain a firm favourite at the dinner table after all these years.
Not one to rest on its laurels, for 2012 Iittala is marking Design Capital year with a pixel collage by artist Per Josephson, featuring Finnish national icons and heroes used on cups, mugs, plates and bowls, even an umbrella. Iittalla also appointed celebrated Finnish designer Harri Koskinen, who has worked with the likes of Artek, Muuto and Montina in his time, as creative director last year. One of his first jobs was to design some of the new Sarjaton range of tableware. Other design credits for this range include emerging design duo Jopsu Ramu and Timo Ramu.
‘In Finland, design is a well-respected profession. Our designers are household names. Harri Koskinen recently appeared on a chat show,’ says Timonen. In contrast, can you really imagine Tom Dixon appearing with Jonathan Ross or PearsonLloyd cosying up to Graham Norton?
Design has a key business role in Finland too, with Helsinki at the forefront. In 1993, when the country was in dire financial straits, the government invested heavily in the arts, culture and science to kickstart recovery. Iittala has always heavily promoted its export business and you can bet Marimekko’s bottom line is boosted by its retail presence around the world. This is nothing new though, as Finland has the second oldest trade body in the world, dating back to the 19th century.
Helsinki-based architects have been busy making their mark in the world as a new exhibition, Seven Connections at the city’s architecture museum, shows. Projects include an opera house in Wuxi in China, the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw and Finnish Embassy in Berlin.
And while we all know about the Finnish mobile phone giant Nokia, who knew that the app Angry Birds, arguably one of the biggest digital design successes of the past few years, also hailed from Finland? There’s even a shop dedicated to it in Helsinki and there’s talk of an Angry Birds film too.
Another concept that originated in the Finnish capital and has now spread as far afield as Thailand, Switzerland and Iceland is Restaurant Day. Beginning in Helsinki in 2011, anyone can set up a restaurant, cafe or a bar for a day. This takes the pop-up design concept a stage further, with eateries springing up everywhere from people’s homes, offices, street corners, or any outside space.
Helsinki has also caught the eye of the Guggenheim Foundation. It wants to build a £116.3m museum on the Helsinki waterfront. ‘We were quite interested and excited by what we saw here – a population that is highly educated, which is very important for the success of the museum and for potential audience development,’ says Ari Wiseman, the Guggenheim’s deputy director. Helsinki city council officials are soon to decide whether to give the project the green light, which could see it open in 2018 after around three years of development. ‘There would be a special role for architecture and design as well as art,’ adds Timonen.
The point of having World Design Capital status is to raise a city’s profile around the world of course, and Helsinki’s already done much groundwork. Naturally lumped together with its Scandinavian neighbours (‘We are the same family, but the members of that family look different,’ explains Timonen) Finland has made significant inroads elsewhere too.
The Russian and Far Eastern delegations of the press pack in attendance with me are testament to Helsinki’s appeal there. Japan is a particular ally, with Finns finding much in common in terms of a sense of reserve, emphasis on harmony and a preference for simpler silhouettes in terms of design. What does Timonen expect for the future then? ‘Although we welcome and absorb outside influences,’ he says finally, after much though, ‘what I hope is that Helsinki becomes more Helsinki.’
Wonderwater Frozen Lights
Fifteen Finnish practices took part in the Wonderwater Frozen Lights, as Helsinki started its tenure as Design Capital 2012.
The Olympic stadium
Its design pedigree takes in buildings from when it hosted in Olympic Games 60 years ago
Alvar Alto’s Iittala vase
A major part of the Helsinki design legacy comes from Alvar Alto. His Iittala vase for the Finnish homeware design company Iittala, was unveiled at the 1937 Paris Show and has been a best-seller ever since.
Finlandia Hall
Alto also designed the Finlandia Hall (1967) among other city landmark buildings
Chapel of St Lawrence
There is a rich crop of new design talent emerging from Helsinki, including architecture practice Avanto, which won the competition to design the Chapel of St Lawrence
Cloud City
ALA, working on Cloud City, a residential project at Nokia’s former factory in the city
Fireplace for Iittala
Designer Iikka Suppanen, who created this fireplace for Iittala
Umbrella
Helsinki’s year as Design Capital is being marked by design company Iittala using a collage of national icons and heroes on memorabilia, including an umbrella.
Teema glass
The Teema glass, designed 80 years ago by Alvar Alto’s wife Aino, is still a very popular item
Museum of the History of Polish Jews, in Warsaw
On a grander scale, the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, in Warsaw, is designed by architect Rainer Mahlamaki, his Helsinki-based practice’s first project outside of Finland
Restaurant Day initiative
Among contemporary design statements being made by Helsinki creatives are one-day pop-up restaurants, part of the Restaurant Day initiative.
