Helsinki Design Week 2026 brought the city to life

The 21st Helsinki Design Week has come to an end – thank you to everyone who joined us, as well as our partners and all the people who made the festival happen! This year marked the beginning of a two-year collaboration between Helsinki Design Week and the City of Helsinki, aimed at finding new ways to make Helsinki city centre more vibrant, inviting and attractive. Once again, the festival brought life to both streets and indoor spaces, bringing together residents, designers and professionals from different fields.

Encounters in the city centre

Instead of one main festival venue, Helsinki Design Week spread across the city centre through a series of HDW Meeting Points. Inspired by this year’s theme, The Oncoming other they brought people, ideas and different perspectives together across the city. The HDW Meeting Points included two striking installations, HDW Lab on Kluuvikatu, Wild Mushroom Bar by Sami Tallberg and the Architecture & Design Museum’s new event space at Eteläranta 6.

One of the festival’s biggest highlights was Marimekko and Futuro at Helsinki Design Week. Futuro House, brought to the festival by California-based designer Jan Van Dijs, delighted visitors at the Kaisaniemi Botanic Garden. Almost 25,000 people visited the installation during the festival week. Futuro’s fascinating story also attracted attention in both Finnish and international media. Due to its popularity, the house will remain in the garden well into autumn. The doors to Futuro House are now closed and the Marimekko exhibition has ended, but visitors can still peek inside through the windows.

Marimekko and Futuro at Helsinki Design Week was a huge success. Futuro will remain at the Kaisaniemi Botanic Garden until the end of autumn.

The second installation, Aalto 90 Pavilion by Iittala and Hydro, brought the legacy of Alvar Aalto into the heart of the city. Located at Lyypekinlaituri, the pavilion hosted photographer Arno Rafael Minkkinen’s The Spirit of Aalto exhibition during Helsinki Design Week. The exhibition brought together photography, design and architecture, offering a new perspective on the familiar form of the Aalto Vase. New works created alongside archival photographs celebrated the vase’s 90-year history and its enduring ability to inspire.

The Aalto 90 Pavilion brought a design classic temporarily into the cityscape at Lyypekinlaituri.

Eteläranta 6 opened its doors as a new meeting point for architecture and design. Designed by Joanna Laajisto, the space hosted talks and events exploring the building’s history, the future Architecture & Design Museum and its collections. In the coming years, Eteläranta 6 will offer residents a chance to follow the development of the new museum and its surrounding area.

At HDW Lab, residents and professionals came together to share ideas and develop new solutions for public spaces and street-level premises in the city centre. The discussion was complemented by a video work produced by Marko Rantanen, presenting perspectives from experts in different fields. The work will continue in the next stages of the project, with the best results to be presented at Helsinki Design Week 2027.

At HDW Lab, visitors had the opportunity to share their ideas and visions for a more vibrant city centre.

Next to HDW Lab, Wild Mushroom Bar by Sami Tallberg brought a four-day pop-up restaurant focused on wild mushrooms to Kluuvi. Inspired by Madrid’s El Cisne Azul, the street kitchen was created through a collaboration between several creative partners, bringing the spirit of the autumn harvest into the city centre.

The Wild Mushroom Bar by Sami Tallberg pop-up restaurant in front of Kluuvi invited visitors to enjoy delicious seasonal dishes.

The future of the city centre was also explored at the Towards a More Vibrant City Centre seminar at Helsinki City Hall’s event square. Experts from urban planning, business, design and culture came together to discuss the changing nature of urban life and explore concrete ways to develop the city centre.

The seminar was held at the City Hall Event Square.

A celebration of design

The City of Helsinki hosted an official reception on Tuesday, 1 September, where Kari Korkman spoke about the collaboration between Helsinki Design Week and the city of Helsinki. During the evening, HDW and the City of Helsinki also presented the prestigious Helsinki Design Award, which recognises topical, socially significant phenomena and the people and organisations transforming them.

This year, the award went to JKMM Architects, recognising their holistic and ambitious approach to design and their active role in renewing Finnish architecture and design culture. Their work combines architecture, interior architecture, urban planning, furniture design, graphic design and art.

Open Studios once again invited visitors into the workspaces of creative professionals on both Fridays of the festival. This year, guided walking tours complemented the programme, introducing visitors to interesting local creatives and spaces.

Open Studios offered a glimpse into the studios and workspaces of creative professionals.

Familiar favourites, new encounters

During the first festival weekend, Design Market filled Cable factory with Finnish and regional brands. This year, visitors could also learn new skills at the Design Market Workshops, including the traditional Sashiko stitching technique.

At the Design Market Workshops, visitors could try their hand at techniques such as Sashiko stitching.

HDW Children’s Design Week brought creative activities for children at Cable Factory in collaboration with Arkki School of Architecture for Children and Youth, Kulosaari Artschool and Aalto University Junior. Alongside learning new skills, the workshops created opportunities for new encounters through making together.

At HDW Children’s Design Week, children got to explore creative fields through hands-on workshops.

Design Diplomacy celebrated its 10th anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, ambassadors’ residences once again opened their doors to international encounters, bringing designers from different countries together for informal conversations guided by a specially designed card game.

A grand finale at the House of Nobility

The festival week culminated in PechaKucha Night at the historic House of Nobility. In the familiar 20 × 20 format, nine speakers shared their ideas and perspectives through 20 images, with 20 seconds devoted to each. The speakers were Jan Van Dijs, Chiaki Hayashi, Siamäk Naghian, Elina Niemistö, Titus Poutanen, Eevi Rutanen, Laura Styyra, Jani Toivola and Tapio Viitasaari.

PechaKucha Night was held at the House of Nobility.

Throughout Helsinki Design Week, the city also hosted an extensive programme of companion and satellite events – exhibitions, talks, openings and many other celebrations of design.

Tell us your opinion!

The city centre survey is open until the end of this week, so there is still time to take part in shaping the future of Helsinki city centre. Everyone who responds will be entered into a draw to win one of five official Futuro caps or a Hobo Hotel Helsinki gift card for a stay for two.

TO THE SURVEY

Thank you for being part of Helsinki Design Week 2026. Next year, the festival will take place on 3–12 September 2027. See you then!