THE BEST OF FINNISH SUSTAINABLE DESIGN IN VENICE

The Sustainable Design from Finland exhibition is part of the event Alla Luce del Nord (In the Light of the North), which provides a new kind of open arena for the exchange of ideas between designers and artists, Helsinki and Venice, and in a larger scale, between Finland and Italy.

Good design is both functional and pleasing to the eye and touch. Good design is also sustainable in the sense that it stands the test of time and use. Sustainable design is good for both people and the environment.

The Venice exhibition Sustainable Design from Finland is an event in the World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 program. The 45 works at the exhibition represent the highest quality of Finnish sustainable design, ranging from jewellery to furniture and from bicycles to urban environmental design concepts.

The exhibition opens with an electro-acoustic concert by Aquatrio on 6 Oct 2012 at 18.00.

Designers in Sustainable Design from Finland:

Aalto & Aalto, Linda Berghroth, Sirpa Fourastié & Susan Elo, Johanna Gullichsen, Hahmo, Henri Halla-aho, Pekka Harni, Simo Heikkilä, Sanelma Hihnala, Jouko Järvisalo, Inka Kivalo, Seppo Koho, Harri Koskinen, Antti Kotilainen, Hannu Kähönen, Kristiina Lassus, Stefan Lindfors, Samuli Naamanka, Vuokko Nurmesniemi, Anniina Nurmi, Mikko Paakkanen, Pelago, Peruste, Ritva Puotila, Tuula Pöyhönen, Heikki Ruoho, Jukka Setälä, Ilkka Suppanen, Janna Syvänoja, Yuka Takahashi, Petri Vainio and Yrjö Wiherheimo.

This exhibition toured Helsinki and Tallinn afterwards.
See also “Enduring Beauty Exhibition in Tallinn”

Globalization and locality are contemporary topics.
Understanding cultural differences and bringing one’s own idea into local needs are important issues for designers.
This exhibition “Astia-Utsuwa” shows three sets of different dining suites designed through “TABLEWARE DESIGN PROJECT derived from Finnish and Japanese eating culture” and carried out at the University of Art and Design Helsinki UIAH in Spring-Summer 2005. Does a design process with cultural exchange study create interesting results?
Three working group units have studied Finnish and Japanese culture especially in the area of serving and consuming meals through a series of intensive workshop sessions. The first of these units is comprised of Finnish students: Susanna Hoikkala, Tanja Sipilä and Marjaana Yläjääski, the second of Japanese students: Nao Saito, Satoko Taguma and Midori Yamada, and the third of the project planner and leader, Yuka Takahashi. Designers have different background such as applied art and design, architectural study, industrial design, spatial and furniture design. This project is one part of Yuka Takahashi’s diploma work of Industrial and strategic design Ma program at the University of Art and Design Helsinki UIAH supervised by a significant Finnish designer and artist Stefan Lindfors.
The teams of Finnish students and Japanese students created sets of artefacts relating to the dining environments of their reciprocal cultures. Yuka Takahashi created a set of artefacts as integrations of Japanese and Finnish cultures.
The task was given as “table and tableware for four people in an everyday environment.” The title “ASTIA-UTSUWA” is a coined expression of “vessel” in “Finnish-Japanese”.

The exhibition of young Finnish designers at the Design Museum Helsinki, Finland. 16.10-22.11.1987

Pekka Harni was the architect of the exhibition and also the exhibition structures were constructed by his team.

Until recently, a system for the categorisation of objects both in the morphological and functional sense has not been available for the field of industrial design research.

Finnish architect and designer, Pekka Harni has developed a system, which divides our daily domestic objects into seven morphological categories, e.g., ”containers”, ”hand tools” and ”body objects”. This division provides tools for analyzing the properties of these categories. Furthermore, it includes the method for mixing object properties between object categories resulting in the possibility of creating totally new design concepts.

In the exhibition, more than 1000 objects are organised in their respective categories. Additionally, the essential relationships and differences, as well as numerous interesting details about their properties are pointed out.

The most recent design work of Pekka Harni is presented in a separate showroom within Artandgallery. These include products for e.g. Designor Ltd/Arabia, Marimekko Ltd and Satira Ltd.

The ENDURING BEAUTY – sustainable design from Finland is an exhibition in Tallinn Design Night Festival. The works at the exhibition represent the highest quality of Finnish sustainable design, ranging from jewellery to furniture and from bicycles to urban environmental design concepts.
The exhibition is located in the Design Elevator section in the impressive old building in Rotermann Quarter, the centre of Tallinn.

Designers presented in the exhibition:
Aalto & Aalto, Linda Bergroth, Susan Elo, Johanna Gullichsen, Hahmo / Illona Törmikoski, Henri Halla-aho, Pekka Harni, Simo Heikkilä, Sanelma Hihnala, Jouko Järvisalo, Inka Kivalo, Seppo Koho, Harri Koskinen, Hannu Kähönen, Stefan Lindfors, Samuli Naamanka, Vuokko Nurmesniemi, Anniina Nurmi, Mikko Paakkanen, Pelago, Peruste, Ritva Puotila, Inni Pärnänen, Tuula Pöyhönen, Heikki Ruoho, Janna Syvänoja, Yuka Takahashi, Julie Tolvanen, Petri Vainio and Yrjö Wiherheimo.