Design Is Embedded in the Finnish DNA Finns come from a harsh and challenging environment. Severity of all kinds has shaped us: the cold Nordic climate, a land poor in resources and far from the centres of Europe, stretching north towards the Arctic Ocean, challenging neighbours to the west and the east, poverty, and a population of insignificant size. In the story of our growth and rise to prosperity, to a place among the leading nations of the world, the regenerative and innovative thinking inherent to design has played and continues to play a crucial role. Design represents thinking that is open and humancentred, emphasizing humanist efforts. It is a vital element of the Finnish DNA. Harsh circumstances have yoked Finnish design to the creation of tools for survival since the earliest times. People’s needs and the development of physical objects to facilitate everyday life were unavoidable starting points. From this grew the ethical goals of Finnish design: the attempt to promote the values striven for and deeply ingrained in Nordic societies, equality and democracy. Without a sense of belonging and cooperation towards a common goal, survival would have been impossible. Equality, security, and mutual trust offer a fertile foundation for the growth of an open society as well. Poverty, a harsh environment and material scarcity left no room for waste. The search for innovative and long-lasting solutions sprung naturally from these circumstances. The scarcity and the pronounced functionalism required of solutions turned a necessity into a virtue: the minimalist aesthetic language that characterizes Finnish design. Dependence on nature has driven the roots of design deep into the fragile natural landscape of the north. These earliest roots of Finnish design have survived to this day, and have refined into a unique ability to apply designer thinking to modern society, to solving its minor and major dilemmas. Human-centred design thinking is embedded in a natural way in everything we do, whether in the design of airports, children’s day care centres and learning environments or advanced communication devices and robust forestry machines. The developments that have deepened and expanded the influence of design are tied to Finnish independence and two World Wars. The third developmental thrust occurred during Finland’s particularly deep economic crisis of the 1990s, which demanded thorough industrial renewal and innovative thinking directed at openness. The fourth phase, the shift to a new paradigm linked to the World Design Capital 2012 project, we are living at this very moment. The increasing influence of design has been significantly affected by national architectural, design, and innovation policies. The building of a young, newly independent nation offered design a new role in the 1920s and 1930s. Schools, hospitals, homes, and production facilities were required – as was everything necessary to realize the economic and social aims of the developing state. The best young architects and designers were tapped to design these, and they adopted human needs and Nordic values as their guiding principles. Finnish design took on an even more pronounced role in the rebuilding of a country and its industries ravaged by World War II. Finland’s greatest design masters – Tapio Wirkkala, Timo Sarpaneva, Kaj Frank, Antti and Vuokko Nurmesniemi, Ilmari Tapiovaara, Yrjö Kukkapuro, Eero Aarnio, Armi Ratia, Aino and Alvar Aalto, and many more – all contributed to the renewal of industry and industrial production. Their work imprinted design onto the Finnish international identity and created a modern lifestyle characterized by rapid urbanization. In the 1950s and 1960s this took shape as Finnish Design, our international reputation for design; the iconic design companies Marimekko, Iittala, Vuokko, Artek, Avarte, to name only a few; and the evolutionary and deepening integration of design into the renewal of Finnish society, cities, and culture.
Open Helsinki — Embedding Design in Life
World Design Capital 2012 Application