Helsinki Design Week begins on Friday

Helsinki Design Week, the largest design and architecture festival in the Nordic countries will spread across Helsinki on 8–17 September, said the City of Helsinki in a press release on Wednesday.

The programme features events for design and architecture enthusiasts, from Children’s Design Week to Design Diplomacy discussions and architecture tours.

During the festival, the City of Helsinki will highlight the significance of design to functional everyday life and a pleasant urban environment and present an award for distinguished design.

“Helsinki Design Week is an intrinsic part of autumn in Helsinki. For a week and change, best talents in the field from here and around the world will get together and Helsinki residents will get to delve into the design and architecture of their home city across Helsinki,” said Chief Design Officer of the City of Helsinki Hanna Harris.

“As the principal cooperation partner of the festival, we want to show how good design and architecture contribute to equal and functional everyday life for us all. Design methods are used both in the development of the built environment and for overhauling services and the City organisation with a user-oriented approach,” Harris added.

This year, the Helsinki Design Award, granted jointly by Helsinki Design Week and the City of Helsinki, will put the spotlight on architecture and design education.

Architecture and design education are all about multidisciplinary, creative problem-solving and providing students with the means to think boldly, discover new, creative ways of perceiving the environment and tackling future challenges.

Helsinki has been making systematic efforts towards strengthening the role of architecture and design education in schools’ curricula and providing teachers with training for utilising design methods.

Accordingly, this year’s Helsinki Design Award will be granted to a Helsinki-based person or party that has promoted design education or increased awareness of the field.

The winner of the Helsinki Design Award will be announced as part of the opening ceremony of the Helsinki Design Week main exhibition on 12 September.