HELSINKI CELEBRATES DESIGN LEGACY WITH SERIES OF MAJOR CULTURAL OPENINGS AND EVENTS DURING 2022

Camron is proud to announce our collaboration with the City of Helsinki throughout 2022, as the City celebrates the 10th anniversary since its designation as World Design Capital. 

Since 2012, Helsinki’s unique relationship with the thinking and treatment of design has flourished, expanding throughout the local design community and as an essential function harnessed by the City organisation to understand the needs of citizens, improve liveability and continue to pave the way for a sustainable future. 

As indicated by the Mayor of Helsinki, Juhana Vartiainen, in the latest City Strategy 2021-2025, design, architecture and culture are vital components of the city’s growth and recovery from the global pandemic, as well as being markers of a strong civil society. In support of a slew of cultural venue launches, architecture projects and flagship events throughout 2022, new design initiatives - such as a placemaking programme, that will bring about the co-creation of select public places with the people of Helsinki - underscore the the importance and position of design at the heart of the City’s idiosyncratic character and public experience. 

Dance House Helsinki, February 2022

A pursuit first initiated in the 1930s, Dance House Helsinki (‘Tanssin Talo’) is the first Finnish event and performance space dedicated entirely to dance. Located next to one of Helsinki’s most important cultural venues, Cable Factory, JKMM and ILO Architects have created a design which respectfully balances old and new with illusions of lightness and weight to create a space which celebrates the diversity of dance forms and culture. Finnish and international productions will be performed on the stages of the 700-seat Erkko Hall and 250-seat Pannuhalli Stage, with the intention of making dance accessible to as wide a range of audiences as possible. 

Little Finlandia, March 2022

The genesis of Little Finlandia (‘Pikku Finlandia’) originated at Aalto University as a student architectural competition, which invited ideas for a temporary event and meeting pavilion while renovations to Finlandia Hall take place. From 18 architecture students, one finalist’s work - Jaakko Torvinen - has been realised and erected at Töölönlahti bay to serve as an arena for live music, congresses, with cafes and terraces overlooking the water. Torvinen’s design is influenced by Finnish boreal forests, with the periphery of the rectangular wooden building flanked by colonnades of trees. Designed as a circular building, once Finlandia Hall renovations are complete, Little Finlandia is intended to be dismantled for new life elsewhere in the city. 

Helsinki Festival, 12 August - 4 September 2022

Helsinki Festival is the largest multi-arts festival in the Nordic countries, first established by the City of Helsinki in 1968. The annual festival’s aim is to make art accessible for all, with a programme that features classical and world music, theatre, dance, circus and visual arts as well as a range of urban events. Helsinki-based architects JKMM have reconceived the design of the main festival hub - Huvilanranta - as a new expanded waterfront park and verdant summer terrace at Tokoinranta that incorporates the prominent Huvila tent, designed by Roy Mänttäri in 1995, opening up the space with improved accessibility while protecting the natural ecosystem of the bay. Up to 24 concert evenings are planned for the Huvila Festival Tent, while Food Camp Finland, which specialises in experiential dining experiences, is to curate a comprehensive line-up of food and drink at the pop-up restaurants within the terrace area.

Helsinki Design Week, 8-18 September 2022

Themed ‘Helsinki is Open’, the next iteration of Helsinki Design Week will see the city reopen the doors to the most interesting galleries, shops, studios and showrooms in a presentation of the local design community and results of its creativity. As the largest design festival in the Nordic countries, Helsinki Design Week consists of Main, Companion and Satellite events, this year celebrating the tenth anniversary of the World Design Capital.

Makasiiniranta Quality and Concept Competition, Autumn 2022

Designated as the site of Helsinki’s New Architecture & Design Museum, Makasiiniranta is the last old harbour area to be transformed for public use in Helsinki. Four shortlisted Helsinki-based architect practices - Tommila Architects, Lahdelma & Mahlamäki (LMA), Anttinen Oiva Arkkitehdit, and K2S Architects - are developing plans to open up the waterfront, and reconnect the city centre with the sea, enlivening the 83,000 sq m footprint into a culturally intensive destination. The winning design and development consortium will be announced in late autumn 2022 following public consultation and jury appraisal, to be granted a development reservation for the project.

Collection Kakkonen at WeeGee EMMA, November 2022

In a collaboration between the City of Espoo, EMMA and Kyösti Kakkonen, the internationally significant collection of Finnish design is to be displayed permanently at WeeGee, as an important expansion for EMMA, (Espoo Museum of Modern Art) Finland’s largest art museum. Collection Kakkonen focuses on the post-war era, the so-called golden age of design, consisting of over 10,000 objects across unique design, art glass and ceramics. The collection features the work from over 30 artists and designers, including Alvar Aalto, Rut Bryk, Kaj Franck, Birger Kaipiainen, Toini Muona, Gunnel Nyman, Markku Salo and Kristina Riska.

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ABOUT THE CITY OF HELSINKI

The capital of Finland, Helsinki, is home to approximately 650,000 people, with more than 1.5 million inhabitants living in the wider metropolitan area. This area includes the cities of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen. Known for its inclusive culture and openness, Helsinki strives to better itself everyday and takes pride in being a city open to everyone. A compact city, Helsinki has an exceptional transport system, designed to make the city more accessible for the public. Its peaceful ecosystem embraces the sea, which is within 130 kilometres of the shoreline, and encourages its residents to appreciate and explore the nature around them, from the archipelago to its deep green forests.