Design Diplomacy

Mia Tamme is a Tallinn-born designer, artistic researcher, filmmaker, and community organizer whose work explores the connections between cultural heritage, identity, and the Baltic environment. Working across graphic design, documentary film, and participatory projects, she examines how traditional knowledge and local communities shape contemporary culture and our sense of place.

A graduate of Design Academy Eindhoven (Netherlands), Tamme has worked internationally as a designer, researcher, and filmmaker. Her projects often draw on Estonian cultural contexts while addressing broader questions of heritage, sustainability, and social change. Her recent work includes a documentary on a knitting club in western Estonia, exploring the relationship between heritage preservation and cultural transformation.

Through her interdisciplinary practice, Tamme demonstrates how design can foster cultural dialogue and connect communities across generations.

Helena Hyvönen is a Distinguished Professor at the China Academy of Art (CAA) in Hangzhou and Professor Emerita of Textile Design at Aalto University where she served as Rector and later Dean (2008–2014) and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Arts in 2019.

Hyvönen is a co-founder of Hyvonen Design Oy and has held academic leadership roles in China, including Adjunct Professor at GDUT Guangzhou and at Donghua University’s SCF in Shanghai, where she was Vice Dean for Academic Affairs (2015–2018). She received the Shanghai Magnolia Silver Award in 2016.

Earlier, she led Hydestudio Oy (1997–2006), specializing in material development, colour design, and trend forecasting, and worked in the Finnish textile industry as a designer and design manager for woven interior textiles. She has also served in several positions of trust, including Vice Chair of the International Design Foundation (WDC 2012 Helsinki).

For more than 23 years, Ole Barslund has been the owner of MONSTRUM, combining a background in fine arts, scenography, and design with a strong passion for reimagining playgrounds. Under his leadership, MONSTRUM has grown into a Copenhagen-based team of more than 85 craftsmen, architects, and designers, creating imaginative, high-quality playgrounds that are recognized and celebrated around the world.

MONSTRUM’s work is rooted in the belief that playgrounds should do more than entertain. They should inspire children to move, explore, think, imagine, and play together. By blending artistic storytelling with exceptional craftsmanship and functional design, MONSTRUM creates inclusive play environments that support both physical and mental development.

From its workshop in Copenhagen, MONSTRUM designs and builds unique playgrounds for clients across the globe. Each project reflects a commitment to creativity, durability, and play value, earning the company international acclaim for its distinctive approach to playground design.

For more than 23 years, Ole Barslund has been the owner of MONSTRUM, combining a background in fine arts, scenography, and design with a strong passion for reimagining playgrounds. Under his leadership, MONSTRUM has grown into a Copenhagen-based team of more than 85 craftsmen, architects, and designers, creating imaginative, high-quality playgrounds that are recognized and celebrated around the world.

MONSTRUM’s work is rooted in the belief that playgrounds should do more than entertain. They should inspire children to move, explore, think, imagine, and play together. By blending artistic storytelling with exceptional craftsmanship and functional design, MONSTRUM creates inclusive play environments that support both physical and mental development.

From its workshop in Copenhagen, MONSTRUM designs and builds unique playgrounds for clients across the globe. Each project reflects a commitment to creativity, durability, and play value, earning the company international acclaim for its distinctive approach to playground design.

After 7 years working as an architect, Cécile Gayraud, aka Gray, became textile, fashion and accessory designer. It is at the Atelier Chardon Savard that she trains in stylism, and then developed her own weaving technique to create metallic meshes.  Hundreds of golden wires are crimped by hand and set in volume to give shape to ”clothing-jewelry”. Both technical and sensitive, Cécile finds her creativity in the intersection of disciplines and scales. She also grants importance to the hand’s work, in contact with the material and holder of a precise gesture.

Thanks to this artisanal and transversal approach she won the public prize at the 33rd Hyères Fashion Festival (accessory category) and now collaborates with luxury brands, famous architects and  interior designers, in parallel of her own collections.

Árný Þórarinsdóttir an Icelandic architect and design entrepreneur best known right now as the co-founder of Dýpi, the experimental Icelandic “ocean paint” company using calcified algae from Arnarfjörður.

Dýpi began as an entrepreneurial project, developed by Sirrý Ágústsdóttir, an entrepreneur, and Árný Þórarinsdóttir, architect and was nominated for the Icelandic Design Awards 2025 for Product of the Year. The paint is exceptionally breathable, environmentally friendly, plastic-free, and a great example of how natural raw materials, available in large quantities, can be used in an innovative way.

Ismael Amarouch García is a Spanish architect and researcher focused on contemporary architectural practice and the relationship between architecture and the city. He holds advanced degrees, including a PhD with international distinction from ETSAM‑UPM. He has combined teaching and research roles at ETSAM, contributed to housing research, and conducted international work in Stockholm. His work spans academic publications, conferences, and participation in scientific committees, alongside awards such as first prize in the “Renove Fuencarral” competition. Currently, he directs the Advanced Research Laboratory at Finis Terrae University in Santiago, Chile, where he teaches architecture at both undergraduate and graduate levels.

Brett O’Mahony is the Creative Director at Studio Saol, a strategic design & futures office practice based in Limerick, Ireland. Her background spans digital experiences & advertising, branding, and design for social innovation, shaped through work in Ireland and the UK with organisations including Burberry, Apple, Google, and aid organisations like Humanity Crew.

Studio Saol’s work lives at the intersection of design, innovation, and systems change. They collaborate with a wide range of partners – from local community groups and public institutions to charities and international organisations – helping them navigate complex challenges.

Studio Saol works across futures, systems, strategy, and design to support responses that are both rooted in place and connected to wider contexts. The studio’s approach sees design not just as problem-solving, but as a way of exploring new possibilities for how people might work, live, and create together.

Ananya Tanttu is a Finnish visual artist currently studying for a MFA in time and space arts at the Academy of Fine Arts (University of the Arts Helsinki). She graduated with a BA from the Lahti Institute of Design in 2020. Her practice, into which she weaves text and elements of installation, is primarily lens-based. Since 2013, Tanttu’s works have been exhibited in several solo and group exhibitions in Finland and abroad, and her works can be found in both private and public collections. She has also been a part of the core team behind Lokal Gallery, a Helsinki-based concept gallery, since founding in 2012.

Nel Verbeke is a Flemish artist and designer whose work places a strong emphasis on emotion and mental space. She operates at the intersection of design, art, and scenography, often creating installations and objects that explore time, silence, and stillness. Her practice is closely aligned with themes such as slowness, care, and sensory experience, making her a particularly relevant voice in the current discourse on design and sustainability.