Finnish school expertise presents to the world in Taipei
Finnish school travels this week to World Design Capital Taipei. New School Helsinki -exhibiton, created by two talented Finnish designers, includes a fuzzy and colourful miniature city and virtual school experiences.
Finnish school travels this week to World Design Capital Taipei. New School Helsinki -exhibiton, created by two talented Finnish designers, includes a fuzzy and colourful miniature city and virtual school experiences.
This year’s World Design Capital is Taipei in Taiwan. Having been World Design Capital in 2012, Helsinki is participating in the WDC2016 programme under the educational theme of “New School Helsinki”.
The City of Helsinki, Finpro and Helsinki Business Hub have teamed up to create the “New School Helsinki” exhibition, which will be presented in Taipei now in October. New School Helsinki refers to a new and innovative way of looking at schools.
New School Helsinki presents digital learning solutions, smart buildings, adaptable interiors and solutions to improve indoor air.
One of the main events in Taipei’s World Design Capital programme is the Adaptive City exhibition, in which Helsinki is participating along with the likes of Cape Town (World Design Capital 2014) and Mexico City (World Design Capital 2018).
Fuzzy and colourful miniature city
Finnish designers Klaus and Elina Aalto have designed an interactive exhibition space that visitors can take part to.
“The main idea is that Helsinki is a city that people can help to build. The exhibition space is like a miniature city that visitors can construct”, Elina Aalto explains.
The space consists of three units: a white school, an orange metro, and a green bush. They have been made of colored nets that the visitors can complement by weaving rags of the same colour.
In the beginning, the stand is transparent and rationally clean. Towards the end, it will change into a fuzzy, soft and colourful place.
“This shows how people make the city look like themselves”, Aalto says.
The international Adaptive City exhibition is expected to attract between 800,000 and 1,000,000 visitors.
In addition, New School Helsinki provides visitors with a virtual experience of the Kalasatama School and learning situations. The virtual experience was created by Helsinki start-up company Teatime Research.
Two traditional videos depict a typical day in school, a safe environment, and the new curriculum as well as school architecture. The Finnish school system is of great interest to the world, and Helsinki is keen to promote its international reputation as a centre of educational expertise.
Brand design agency Werklig has created a timeline of Finnish design to support the exhibition. It presents practical examples of making daily life better, such as Fiskars scissors and the Löyly sauna.
“This exhibition combines technology and handicrafts in a fun way. I believe it will be a fabulous event”, Aalto says.
Also Helsinki Design Week takes part
To support Finnish exports, Finpro together with the City of Helsinki and Helsinki Business Hub is organising a New School Helsinki business satellite event on 14 October, following which Helsinki Mayor Jussi Pajunen will host a stakeholder event for invited guests.
Anne Stenros, who started in her position as Helsinki’s Chief Design Officer in September, and Mayor Jussi Pajunen will present a joint talk at the Design Policy Conference in Taipei. The heads of the cities participating in the Adaptive City exhibition will also convene at the Cities Meeting seminar.
In addition, Kari Korkman, Director of Helsinki Design Week, in turn will represent Helsinki at Taipei’s International Design Week Forum, at which the directors of design week events around the world will convene.
International Design House Exhibition 13 to 30 October 2016