Finnish Design
In the 1950s and 1960s, Finnish Design won global fame. The breakthrough came at the Milan Triennial in 1951, when Finland was awarded six Grand Prix prizes, four honourable mentions, seven gold medals and eight silver medals. Finnish designers today rank among the most exciting in the world: so don’t miss the chance to appreciate the graceful and sophisticated forms serving basic everyday functions in architecture, design and homeware…
At the following triennial Finland took a quarter of all awards on offer. Names such as Gunnel Nyman, Kaj Franck, Tapio Wirkkala and Timo Sarpaneva were on everybody's lips. Marimekko, founded by Armi Ratia (1912-1979), revolutionised the conventions of "good taste" and colour, homes were given facelifts, and various enduring modern design classics emerged, including Olof Bäckström's orange-handled, ergonomically-designed Fiskars scissors from 1967.
It was time to bridge the gap between the traditional and the modern, to combine elements from the traditional and the contemporary. In an attempt to bring beauty into the everyday world, with a new accent on natural materials and uncluttered shapes. The Functionalist architect Alvar Aalto, who designed the interior elements of his buildings, from furniture to lightning, led the way. Artek was founded in 1935 with the prime aim of marketing his designs, such as the timeless Aalto vase which you will still see on sale in Finnish stores. Industry played its role in the process by accepting affordable utility ware for serial production alongside expensive one-off works of art. Ordinary homes acquired objects which elsewhere would have counted as elitist rarities.
A reputation for cool design
Stand in the middle of Helsinki. Look up and look around. If your interest includes architectural form, you are sure to notice particular prominent themes and genres. Then peek into shop windows. There is something special, something different, something refreshing about the furniture, the footwear, the ornaments, the homewares. Welcome to cool Finland!
The Finnish reputation for original and practical design has its roots in a rural lifestyle where necessity was the mother of invention. Modern Finnish designers have come up with a mixture of graceful and sophisticated forms that serve basic everyday functions, from the textiles of Marimekko to the glass of Iittala.
Helsinki is packed with top class design shops and museums, so make sure you add a guided visit to the Marimekko factory, the Arabia glass and tableware exhibition, and the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art to your itinerary. Experts from these establishments will willingly share their thoughts on the guiding principles behind their particular design styles.
The city offers an ideal place to get to know Finnish design and to buy top-class Finnish design products. Located in the centre of Helsinki, the Design District Helsinki is an area full of design and antique shops, fashion stores, museums, art galleries, restaurants and showrooms. Here you can find the most interesting names, classics and trend-setters. Design District Helsinki claims to be not just a neighbourhood but also a ‘state of mind’. It is 25 streets and 170 spots on a map from shops to galleries and from design studios to design hotels. It is creativity, uniqueness, experiences, design and Finnish city culture.
Helsinki’s Design Museum, housed in a 19th century building that’s Beaux Arts in style, presents a permanent collection that focuses on the 20th century. Here you can see minimalist and functional, ceramics in eternal shapes, blown glass, silver coffee servers and a whole wall of chairs.
There are many architectural landmarks to be seen in Helsinki: Alvar Aalto’s Finlandia Hall and the ‘Church in the Rock’ by Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen, provide an exciting trail of architectural treasures. Throughout the rest of Finland you will also find an exciting array of architectural examples. The Metso Library in Tampere, for example, is the work of Raili and Reima Pietilä.
A popular holiday option is to embark on the Finnish Design and Architecture road tour, a journey totaling some 830km from Helsinki through Seinäjoki and up to the Lakeland city of Jyväskylä. The extent of various architecture styles and designs on the tour is quite amazing. Jyväskylä itself is the home city of Finland’s most famous architect Alvar Aalto (1898-1976), a master of functionalism, not only in areas of architecture, but also of design. Objects designed by Aalto are still a common sight in both public spaces and private homes.
|