This is what 100-year-old theatre backdrops looked like at Showroom

Backdrops from the Finnish National Theatre created an exciting athmopshere at Showroom. Next year Showroom will be a part of new international project Mobile Home 2017 to celebrate the centenary of Finland’s independence.

Backdrops from the Finnish National Theatre created a dreamy athmopshere at Showroom. Next year Showroom will be a part of new international project Mobile Home 2017 to celebrate the centenary of Finland’s independence.​

Dreamy, exciting and surprising.

This is the way the visitors described a new trade fair Showroom.

Event in design, spatial design and lighting, targeted at professionals, was organized and produced in co-operation with Helsinki Design Week and Habitare fair at Messukeskus in Helsinki.

The exhibition design played a major role and drawed its spirit from the world of theatre created by ALA Architects. The athosphere was dark and calming.

“The idea was to make the stands to float in the emptiness, and it worked very well. We are super happy about the result”, saysSamuli Woolston from ALA Architects.

The event featured original backdrops from plays staged at the Finnish National Theatre. Some of these cloths are more than one hundred years old, and are now shown for the first time outside the theatre.

“Not everyone realized that they are actually the original backdrops and considered them as copies. But when you see the tatters, it is pretty obvious”, Woolston says.

Old objects created great contrast to the event.

“Fair showcases the lates products, so old handmade backdrops gave some great depth. It is amazing that the thearte was willing to lend them.”

ALA Architects’s Heikki Ruoho was responsible for the exhibition architecture.

The programme included speeches and dialogues on six different themes, bringing different ideas onto the stage. The speakers at the event include urban planners, chefs, artists, designers, craftsmen, economists and officials.

The curator of the Showroom stage programme was Tuuli Sotamaa of Ateljé Sotamaa.

Next year even more international

The next Showroom will be held on 7 to 17 September 2017 in Habitare.

Showroom will be a part of new international project Mobile Home 2017 to celebrate the centenary of Finland’s independence.

The Finnish Institutes of Paris, Benelux countries, Berlin and London are producing a joint project that explores and interprets the different meanings of home in 2017 through architecture, art, science and society.

Showroom is a part of Mobile Home London, which will create opportunities for a sustainable and innovative wood construction combining wood know-how, university collaboration and technology. The project is produced in collaboration with design professionals and architecture students and will be an integral part of the architecture studies of the University of Westminster.

Renowned British architect and Head of the Department of Architecture at the University of Westminster, Professor, Harry Charrington and Finnish architect Sami Rintala are the forces behind the project.

Under their guidance the students will develop environmentally friendly building materials and models with low emission. The processes and end results of the project will be shown at the University of Westminster in London and Habitare Showroom in Helsinki.

© MOBILE HOME 2017

The next Showroom will be held on 7 to 17 September 2017 in Habitare.

showroom.messukeskushelsinki.fi