Design Helsinki Festival is the event that promotes Scandinavian design in the world
The first edition of Design Helsinki Festival will take place on August 24-25. Helsinki, named World Design Capital in 2012, is renowned for its functional and minimalistic architecture, and for the largest concentration of Art Nouveau buildings in Northern Europe.
Scandinavian architecture and design have always influenced professionals and businesses around the world, especially in the field of sustainability. And it is with this in mind that the city has decided to promote and celebrate emerging and established talents from northern Europe with the Design Helsinki Festival. The partners of the event are Habitare and the Alvar Aalto Foundation. Habitare, scheduled for September 7-12, 2022, and Design Helsinki will both feature in each other’s programs. The creative director of Habitare, Laura Sarvilinna, will be interviewed as part of the Design Helsinki program on “Regenerate”, while Design Helsinki will participate in Habitare’s program as part of the theme “Blending Spaces”.
Design Helsinki Festival: discovering Helsinki
The events of Design Helsinki will take place in various locations in and around Helsinki. Kasarmitori, one of the city’s most famous squares, will house the International Design Pavilion, while talks and meetings will take place at the Design Museum. Numerous installations will be in Esplanadi park, while many workshops and exhibition will be held in participating showrooms throughout the city center.
Discover Woodcity, the sustainable city in Helsinki
Brands and showrooms
The local showrooms participating in Design Helsinki present a rich program of topic-led events including talks, workshops, product launches and more. The exhibition spaces will give visibility to numerous local brands and major Scandinavian brands such as Carl Hansen, Norman Copenhagen, Kvadrat, Marimekko and Skanno.
International Design Pavilion
The International Design Pavilion will be located in Kasarmitori square in the Kaartinkaupunki district of Helsinki. Within the 1,650m2 pavilion, visitors will discover leading Scandinavian with hundreds of products covering furniture, lighting, surfaces, architectural finishes and more.
Participants in the first edition of the Helsinki Design Festival include Aeris, Arktis, Eikund, Framery, Herman Miller, KT Interior, Martela, Lintex, naughtone, Vaarnii, Secto Design.
Program and installations
Design Helsinki Festival will feature a series of installations, many of which specially commissioned for the event. Also, it will launch new brands, unveil local and international emerging talents, and enable discussions with distinguished figures in the industry.
Design Museum Helsinki will host Design in Conversation, a program of talks on interesting topical issues. Design in Conversation will make it possible to exchange views with creative people, industry leaders, journalists, and institutes. At the museum it will also be possible to visit Cambio, an exhibition curated by the Formafantasma duo, in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute and Artek.
Piia Lehtinen, Head of Collaboration & Marketing, Design Museum Helsinki, says: “We’re delighted to welcome a new international design event in Helsinki. The two-day talks program will be held at the Design Museum and will cover current topics and issues, as well as introducing both Finnish and international professionals to the audience. We are also delighted to include our main exhibition ‘Design for Everybody’ and our gallery exhibition by Milan-based design studio FormaFantasma to the talk’s audience. It’s exciting to kickstart the fall season with Design Helsinki!”
