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News • Helsinki • Finland • 2014-06-19

Design Driven City wishes you a pleasant summer!

Welcome to the fourth newsletter of Design Driven City, a legacy project of World Design Capital Helsinki 2012! This edition deals with a summer school in city design for the students of the Lahti Institute of Design and Fine Arts, the results of a survey conducted by the Finnish Association of Designers Ornamo, and how investments in design pay back. We also take a look at what happens at a service design “jam” – an intensive service design workshop.

Design Driven City wishes you a pleasant summer!

Summer school in city design in Lahti

What could the work of designers be like in cities of the future? The students of the Lahti Institute of Design and Fine Arts have studied city design and the role of the designer in the development of cities at a summer school.

The summer school offers students lessons in the methods of user surveys, user-oriented design and service design, as well as utilization of the user experience in the development of urban environments.

In addition to studying theory, the students have been able to apply their lessons in two practical projects. They have reviewed the signage of the Tori Quarters district in the historic Helsinki city centre and the service model of the Siiri elderly centre in Lahti.

Read more about the projects of the summer school in city design

Mikko Heiskala

Public services created by jamming

What happens when city residents, students, service designers and researchers are brought together and tasked to create a new public service in 48 hours?

Aalto University’s Service Factory hosted a service design workshop, Helsinki GovJam 2014, in the beginning of June. Helsinki GovJam was one of the events of the worldwide Global GovJam organized by volunteers simultaneously in more than 25 cities in about 20 countries.

The three days of jamming saw intensive work, fun learning both together and from others, creative ideas and fine service design prototypes.

Read more about Global GovJam

Aalto University

The Suburb 2072 project group

Residents join suburban development

Aalto University has considered how to activate residents in the development of suburbs. The Suburb 2027 project at the Aalto University Department of Design sparked cross-sector cooperation between the public, private and third sectors.

The project produced a model intended to promote the resident-driven regeneration and improvement of suburban areas. The cooperative model developed by the project was piloted in Finland\'s largest borough, Mellunkylä in Helsinki.

An essential part of the project was the active involvement of the residents of the suburbs themselves. This resident activity was strengthened by various means, including ‘housewife’ and ‘househusband’ training. The collaboration also produced economic success, for example, in energy-related issues.

Read more about the project from Aalto university website

Chris Vidal Tenomaa

Sara Ikävalko

How does a city designer view cities?

“For me, a city is home above all. A good city invites people to act and creates a feeling of togetherness for all. I view cities as networks that sustain and support good everyday lives,” says City Designer Sara Ikävalko.

Sara is one of the three City Designers of Design Driven City. They work hand in hand with the staff in development projects of the cities of Helsinki, Espoo, Kauniainen and Lahti, providing design expertise for the projects. They assist and guide cities in the use of design.

Read more about Sara´s thoughts

Niklas Kullström

Investment in design improves profits

Enterprises that invest in design have been able to increase their market share and improve their profits. As much as 79 percent of enterprises investing in design consider that design has played a major or fair role in the growth of their market shares.

The findings are published by the Finnish Association of Designers Ornamo in their report on the first-ever study of the design sector. The study also utilized a survey on small and medium enterprises conducted by the Confederation of Finnish Industries. Altogether 68 percent of the enterprises surveyed believed that design had improved their profits. Furthermore, 76 percent of the respondents reported that design had allowed them to raise the price of their products and services.

Professor Maarit Salolainen of Aalto University encourages enterprises to utilize design thinking. The purpose of design thinking is to generate new ideas and innovations as well as solving problems. Design should play an important role in corporate strategies, so corporate executive groups should include designers. Design unites the best know-how of various fields.

“Importantly, design stems from user needs and the user experience, whether we’re dealing with product design or service design,” Salolainen says.

Read more about Finnish Association of Designers Ornamo

Mikko Kutvonen

Design Agents in Kellohalli

Join the Design Agent network!

An open network of Design Agents was launched in the spring, inviting all city employees interested in design to join. The goal of the Design Agent network is to increase understanding of the role of design in cities – why cities need design to prosper – and to present successful examples of the use of design in urban contexts.

Approximately 50 Design Agents met at the Kellohalli restaurant at the Abattoir (Teurastamo) during the morning hours of Helsinki Day, 12 June. The discussion was led by Marco Steinberg. The topics discussed during the morning session included pressures for change in the public sector, obstacles for change, and the role of design in Finland and worldwide. The participants were also presented successful case studies.

City employees, you’re all invited to join the Design Agent network! Enroll by e-mail to Riikka at [email protected] and join the Design Agents group on Facebook

Read more about the Design Agent network

Tuomas Uusheimo

Competition site

Design competition for the Guggenheim Helsinki museum launched

A design competition for a new Guggenheim museum to be constructed and developed in Helsinki was launched on 4 June 2014. The competition is organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. This open, international design competition is expected to rouse wide interest.

The competition seeks a contemporary and ecologically sustainable design for a building to be constructed in Helsinki’s South Harbour. The competition entries should make statements on the ongoing redefinition of the Helsinki cityscape, as the city’s waterfronts and former harbours are being redeveloped for residential and recreational uses.

“The international design competition offers a fine opportunity for Helsinki to examine how to develop both a new urban environment and a museum of the future,” says Helsinki Deputy Mayor Ritva Viljanen. “The Guggenheim Foundation is particularly attracted to Helsinki’s architectural and design traditions as well as the city’s location between the East and the West.”

Read more about the design competition for the Guggenheim Helsinki museum

A science-based idea competition has been launched - the award is 375 000 €

The University of Helsinki is organising Helsinki Challenge, an international science competition, to celebrate its 375th anniversary. The prize for the competition is €375,000.

The intention is to generate solutions for building the wellbeing of the future. The themes for the competition include environmental change, health and wellbeing, a new worldview, global Helsinki and future learning.

Participants in Helsinki Challenge work in multidisciplinary teams and in cooperation with different institutions in society to solve major problems. Each team features both members of the University of Helsinki community and outside members from Finland or abroad.

- Nobody will solve the problems of the future alone. We wish to extend the cooperation between the university and with other actors in order to promote the toolbox of welfare and even solutions to global problems. We aim to reward originality, creativity and impact, says Chancellor Thomas Wilhelmsson.

The participating teams will compete for the €375,000 prize, which is intended to fund the realisation of the winning concept. The teams must register by 17 October. A jury will select the most promising proposals for the accelerator programme, and the jury will continue to develop the ideas further during 2015. The winner will be announced in a gala event in November 2015.

The University of Helsinki turns 375 years next year.

Read more about the science-based idea competition

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