Lapland Varsity presents Vaana design space

The University of Lapland presented last month ‘Vaana’, an interactive design space created by the university’s art and design students, at the Milan Design Week.

The Naked Approach, a design research project, also joined hands with the Faculty of Art and Design of Lapland University in creating the Vaana exhibited at the Ventura Lambrate district.

The Milan Design Week is one of the world’s leading design events, and participation in it is a dream for many designers. Last year, the event accepted less than 10 per cent of the applicants.

Ventura Lambrate is one of the longest running design districts in Milan's Fuorisalone – a programme that accompany the Salone del Mobile furniture fair. Located in Lambrate, northeast of the city centre, the district puts a focus on emerging designers and radical ideas. Now in its seventh year, it has become a staple on the design week circuit.

“Being accepted to the Milan Design Week is a great achievement, and we have worked hard for this. For students, this is an important opportunity to show their talent, but also to learn about the quality level of other institutes and studios. The event brings international visibility for the University of Lapland as well as to Rovaniemi as an arctic design city,” said Supervising Professor Jonna Häkkilä.

Arctic Design is one of the strategic spearheads of the University of Lapland.

The keystones of Arctic Design are scarcity and minimalism. Vaana (meaning sparseness in Northern Sámi) is inspired by the few remaining rays of light during the polar winter which embodies the stark forms of the surroundings. During this time of darkness, even the dimmest colours seem brighter and inspiration is sought from the tiniest details. In the breaking of the polar winter, rays of lights emerge, and snow and ice melt. The exhibition introduces an interactive Arctic experience through the lens of design, combining traditional and modern elements.

Vaana uses conventional design materials, such as wood and reindeer leather, but it also introduces wearable technology and printed electronics solar cells as part of the exhibition pieces.

A Closer Look

What is Vaana exactly? A leading member of the designers’ group said, “We wanted to show a side of Lapland that is different from Santa Claus and reindeers. Winters are long and freezing and short summers can be quite chilly. During the darkest time of the year, the daylight lasts for only two hours and, during summer, the sun doesn’t set at all. We live in an absurd environment where everything can’t survive.”

“But when you look closely, life here is extremely beautiful,” the student went on – “the restless and yet calm nightless nights in summer and the multicoloured bright fall days. During the silent polar nights, our whole world is sleeping under a blanket of snow, while the spring is filled with sunlight and the noise of multiple small brooks rushing to wake everyone up. Life here is a constant journey. Nature is in a state of constant transformation, already in the current season, but still en route to the next.”

The student, already quite a design philosopher, said, “Nature is something that we could not live without. Nature, forest, and wood are what we have used originally, when creating our infrastructure, culture, and identity. Wood, the traditional Finnish construction material, is insulating and thus protective from the cold. It is typically sculpted into stiff and rigid forms, when the actual source, forest, is ignored in design. Trees, before sculpting, remind us of the nature’s impact on our surroundings. Polar night makes our surroundings seem scarce, but the trees and rich forests illustrate our unlit landscape. The trees have been the source of inspiration to the Lappish people for thousands of years.”

“These are the key elements that inspired us in the beginning of the way to Vaana. Our rigid seasons and nature are an endless source of inspiration for us and through technology we can show a little piece of it to the world,” added the eloquent student representing the Vaana group.

In the furniture exhibitions, Vaana presented interactive furniture and decorations of trough, minimalistic Lappish design. The Naked Approach Project and a variety of talented design students from the University of Lapland are currently spreading this message around. Trough interactive means the team can present the beauty of all the eight seasons to the world.