Even if the summer season is still going quite strong (maybe some of us still have to go on vacation!) it’s never too early to start thinking about the next season event calendar since most of them are already organized and ready to start! The first in our list is Helsinki Design Week 2019, the largest design festival in the Nordic countries. Its main feature is its multidisciplinary approach that ranges over different fields, from basic design and architecture, to fashion to urban culture. Celebrating and promoting design it’s its main goal while it offers an interesting outlet to let citizens be inspired and inspire a conversation about the city’s culture and its ramifications in design.

Born in 2005, the event started as a way to create a network of events – until that time held parallel to one another – a creative hub that could involve the city as a whole; gathering creative minds and proposing innovative thoughts has always been the basis of HDW. The 2019 edition’s theme will be more current than ever – delivering the truth that design can really take a stand in everyone life – and it’s “Learning Climate”: the festival will be an open and respectful place where it will be possible to learn about environment, climate changes, and sustainability, with contributions from lecturers, professors and universities. It will be a fun way to integrate climate lessons and design innovations. Keep reading our HELSINKI DESIGN WEEK 2019 EVENT GUIDE for more details!

HELSINKI DESIGN WEEK 2019 EVENT GUIDE

WHEN & WHERE

The 15^th edition will be held from September 5^th to 15^th, ten days in which Helsinki will come alive with more than 250 events spread through the city, both specifically professional events and visitor ones. Museums, markets, seminar halls, and secret shops are only some of the locations of the festival, always looking for more places and methods to integrate the community into the design dialogue.

WHAT YOU CAN’T MISS

LEARNING CLIMATE

Different kinds of initiatives have been organized around the principal theme – Learning Climate: Climate Impact Map at the City Hall will transform the City Hall into a Climate School and, with the help of Aalto University and University of Helsinki, it will impart useful knowledge on the many challenges of our time, social and political phenomena, and different contexts and how they interact with a possible positive outcome for our planet’s future. Rooms with a View on Erottaja 2 will be an installation on four floors – each with a different perspective of the issue – realized by different designers, such as Hakola, Typocraft, Nomen Nescio, Grafia, Trash Design, and Helsieni. Designs for a Cooler Planet – in Espoo will bring 10 multidisciplinary exhibitions directly from Finland’s pavilion, curated by Aalto, in Venice Biennial: Otaniemi galleries will be the host for this series on how to create a sustainable environment through ecological and innovative methods. Instead, for the first time, Ways to make the world better at Annantalo will bring the Children’s Design Week to Annantalo where they will be delighted to discover the Design Exploration Path and various workshops organized for them by Etana Editions and SuoMu, the Finnish Association of Design Learning.

BOTANIC GARDEN

The Botanic Garden tunnel has been designed by interior architect and designer Natalia Ritari and organized by Paja&Bureau, a furniture and object design studio and workshop. And don’t miss the “Design Garden” colorful installation for kids, designed by Päivi Raivio and Daniel Bumann with recycled materials, that imitate a temporary pollination station. A learning experience for everybody!

DESIGN MARKET 2019

Cable Factory will be the perfect spot for Design Market, the largest design stock sale in the Nordics. With 200 vendors selling off-season products and prototypes at affordable prices – in addition to waste food restaurant Loop and Café Damascus – and the Vinyl and Print Market featuring live DJ’s, it’s an unmissable event in our schedule.