Achieving Action 16 November 2009
In the future, design-based and human-oriented innovation operations may provide a living for a higher number of Finns than before. For most of its 40-year history, Sitra has developed the Finnish design sector with various projects and events.
“Finnish Design” is a globally known concept. Finns' confidence in the brand may have waned, but Yrjö Sotamaa, a professor currently working in China, assures that the global reputation of Finnish design is excellent.
“Finnish Design still is a strong brand, and our expertise is appreciated globally much more than it is here in Finland. Finland is a superpower of design, and the conditions to maintain that position are excellent. This is a result of the establishment of Aalto University, and Sitra’s decade-long support of design projects. Finland is the absolute hotspot of design,” says Sotamaa.
Sotamaa, who led the University of Art and Design Helsinki for a few decades, now spends four months a year in China. At leading Chinese universities, he gives presentations about Finnish design, Aalto University and the Finnish innovation system, among others things.
Finland has a strong position in the World Design Capital 2012 project
According to Sotamaa, Finnish design needs an organisation like Sitra, which has authority, good networks and high-quality expertise. The results of design projects can also be seen in the everyday life of Finns, in the form of better products and services. Making services more user-friendly has been one of the recent trends in municipal services.
“The World Design Capital 2012 project will be the next massive, international booster of the design sector. Personally, I am extremely confident that Helsinki will win this competition. All Finnish designers and support organisations should join forces and cooperatively invest in the project. The impact of the WDC project will affect the design sector both before and after 2012. In this project, the asset of Finns could be in spreading the Embedded Design thinking that has become part of people’s everyday lives,” says Sotamaa.
Design seminars since 1968
Sotamaa has been involved in Sitra’s design projects right from the start. Industry, Environment, Design”, an international seminar held in 1968, was the fifth project in Sitra’s history. It has also come to be known as the legendary “Suomenlinna seminar”.
High-profile speakers at the seminar included Buckminster Fuller, an American design guru, and Viktor Papanek, particularly known by his human-oriented and responsible design style. In Suomenlinna, the currently frequently used word ‘innovaatio’ (innovation) was also then introduced to the Finnish language for the first time.
Helsinki Design Lab breathes new life into Finnish design
The Suomenlinna seminar of 1968 also acted as the background for the “Helsinki Design Lab” event organised in summer 2008. The objectives were similar to those in 1968, and the results are already showing.
“The objective of the ’Helsinki Design Lab’ event series was to establish an internationally interesting design event in Finland, develop and expand Finnish design thinking, and to globally network with other leading researchers. The objectives have been met quite well, and the Finnish design scene has gotten new energy to it,” says Sotamaa.
The next ’Helsinki Design Lab’ event will take place in 2010 (http://www.hdl2010.org). Besides Sitra, ’Helsinki Design Lab’ events have also been organised by the Tapio Wirkkala Rut Bryk TWRB foundation, the University of Art and Design Helsinki, Aalto University, and a large number of Finnish and top international professionals in the design sector.
Design is a core area of Aalto University
Sotamaa has carried out a lot of work on the background of Aalto University, and he believes that the teaching of design will expand in Finland in the future. In design teaching in the future, Service Design, strategic design and international product development will be emphasised even more.
“In a recently published international assessment commissioned by the Academy of Finland and Aalto University, design research received excellent grades. Design research is one of the best fields of study at Aalto University, and it will definitely be one of the university's important focus areas,” says Sotamaa.
Author: Kai Tarkka/TrueStory
Photo: Yrjö Sotamaa