Helsinki Design Week once again proved that creativity flourishes in our city

The largest design and architecture festival in the Nordic countries, Helsinki Design Week, highlighted new materials, collective working methods, a computer-themed playground – and plenty of encounters, celebrations, and visions of a promising future this September.

HDW kicked off in high gear at Kaapelitehdas, as the Design Market took over the entire Merikaapelihalli.

Nearly 17,000 visitors admired high-quality design products, furniture, clothing, and jewellery. Coffee was served by Way Bakery, Tactic’s play area entertained the little ones, and the final exhibition by Aalto University’s Contemporary Design programme at Valssaamo impressed visitors with the visions of future designers.

Kids loved the playset by Tactic and HDW team.

This years’ Collectors’ Market had some true rarities on sale.

Print Market offered a workshop by Aalto University students.

The main event venue at Paasivuorenkatu 3 transformed from an inconspicuous office building into the heart of the festival when Bar Unikko, produced in collaboration with Marimekko and Apartamento, was opened to the public.

Paasivuorenkatu 3 had a daily changing talks programme.

An inspiring design and architecture-themed discussion programme, live music, and carefully selected wines by Let Me Wine ensured that the former bank hall was packed from Wednesday to Saturday.

Helsinki Design Night featured an improvised set by Jori Hulkkonen.

The studio space, furnished by Franckly, hosted the Helsinki Design Weekly interview series, and the final evening’s Helsinki Design Night ensured that these celebrations will be remembered in the city for a long time.

Weekly Studio had a carefully curated reading selection from Nide and Aatos Editions.

Visitor targets at the main event venue were even exceeded. HDW and the City of Helsinki once again awarded the best designer in Helsinki, with this year’s focus on businesses utilizing design expertise. The award was given to Reaktor, a local consulting company operating in nine countries.

Helsinki Design Award -winner 2024: Reaktor. Pictured are Pekka Horo, Panu Korhonen and Minttu Paukkunen.

The launches at the design festival are presented after a development phase. This creative process is often portrayed as mysterious, and rightly so. The annual theme Underneath brought to light these pre-launch phases and delved deep into the design process.

The foundation of creative activity in design fields lies in meaningful encounters, discussions, and building mutual trust. This year’s festival once again succeeded in bringing people together.

Design Diplomacy at the Ambassador of Iceland’s residency.

In addition to the programme at Paasivuorenkatu, the rest of the programme was also designed with this purpose in mind; the Design Diplomacy discussions in embassy residences, Open Studios evenings, and the Showrooms Habitare x Helsinki Design Week series encouraged both design professionals and city residents to engage in conversation.

Showrooms Habitare x Helsinki Design Week shared an open invitation to the showrooms of the city. This photo is from an event by Blau Interior.

The dozens of Companion and Satellite events that spread across the city showcased the diversity of the design field. During the week, city dwellers and design professionals had the chance to explore exhibitions by Aalto University students on the Otaniemi campus, a fashion show in Suomenlinna, a lighting exhibition at Teurastamo, and the secret liquor tunnel in Ruoholahti.

Open Studios opened the doors of the most inspiring studio spaces.

Now, we are looking forward to next year, when Helsinki Design Week will celebrate its 20th anniversary. Who knows what kind of celebrations the ideas and shared thoughts from this and previous years’ festival encounters will lead to?

Helsinki Design Week 5–14 September 2025.