Helsinki Design Week 2011- Part 2

One of the main reasons that I wanted to visit Helsinki this year for Design Week was the fact that back in November 2009, the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid) designated Helsinki as World Design Capital 2012.  This unique initiative promotes and supports the cultural, social and financial uses of design and focuses on the broader essence of design’s impact on urban spaces, economies and citizens.

Finland has a great reputation as far as design is concerned and I think that most Finns would agree that design plays a major role in all aspects of life in Finland. With Helsinki being selected as World Design Capital 2012, this provided the perfect opportunity for the city to demonstrate its attempt to inspire dialogue on how design can be used to make life better, easier and more functional. Helsinki wants to show the world that it is embedding design in life.

 

In addition to this, Helsinki had claimed the number 1 spot in Monocle’s 2011 Quality of Life survey, which ranks the top 25 cities in the world to call home. So it’s no wonder I couldn’t wait to visit. Whilst the Design Week activities were certain to be something to look forward to, I was also interested to explore the city and see for myself to what extent design was embedded in life as all the hype claims. I’m happy to report that I wasn’t disappointed.

On our first full day in Helsinki, Thomas and I decided to take advantage of the dry weather to visit the famed Design District. Located in the city centre, the Design District Helsinki is an area full of design and antique shops, fashion stores, museums, art galleries, restaurants and showrooms. Encompassing 25 streets and 200 spots on a map, Thomas and I obviously couldn’t even begin to cover all that ground so we limited ourselves to the purely interiors and design destinations in the district. Having picked up a map of the Design District previously, we went for coffee and planned our route, which you can see below.

You can view the full map of the Design District here along with a key that identifies each individual destination by category.

We started our tour at the legendary textile and clothing design company Marimekko, which was quite a treat. Renowned for its original prints and colours, the Finnish brand displayed a wealth of strong and distinctive product design throughout the store. I couldn’t take my eyes off all the fantastic fabrics in store, but then we ventured upstairs and my attention turned to the fantastic range of homewares that was on offer and I found myself hankering after a very attractive teapot.

Upon leaving Marimekko, we popped into a little shop called Aarikka before heading straight for another Finnish design icon: Iittala. The company is famous for its honest, functional products that are inspired by everyday life. The store was packed full of simple and timeless objects for the kitchen, the table and the home. On my next trip to Helsinki, which hopefully won’t be too far in the future, I would love to visit the Iittala Glass Museum and factory to discover more about the company’s history.

The next few places on our route were Pulu Design, Artisaani, Taito Shop Helsky, Okra, and Anki Design. But none of these matched up to a great little shop we discovered called Finlayson. The company manufactures and markets high quality home textiles for the kitchen and the bedroom mainly. Thomas and I fell in love with all the fabulous prints and the vibrant colours of the collection.

This then lead us to a shop that was top of my list of places to visit in the Design District: Artek. Founded in 1935 by four young idealists, Alvar and Aino Aalto, Maire Gullichsen and Nils-Gustav Hahl, Artek is today renowned for being one of the most innovative contributors to modern design. Based on the principles of functionality and timeless aesthetics, the furniture produced by Artek creates a new kind of environment for everyday life. Having seen many of the products online and in magazines over the years it was a real treat to be able to experience it firsthand.

Not only am I unable to afford any of the furniture in the Artek store, but I can’t even afford the little models that make up the Miniature Collection. On a high from seeing all these iconic pieces we headed off to our next location which we almost missed as it is not the easiest place to find. Tucked away in the basement of a bed shop called Unikulma, is a new showroom dedicated to the designs of Finnish Designer and Professor Eero Aarnio. The very friendly Personal Manager, Antti J. Kallio, took time out of his day to accompany us downstairs and tell us all about the new showroom and the designs. He even let us sit in the amazing hanging chairs, which I have decided make great reading chairs, like a rocking chair only better.

After a very pleasant experience in the showroom we said farewell to Mr Kallio and headed off towards Design Forum Finland, another must visit destination for design lovers in Helsinki. Design Forum Finland is the organisation responsible for promoting Finnish design to the world. It can also be described as an information centre that provides a wide range of news and materials on the achievements and strengths of Finnish design both within the country and abroad. We discovered that there are quite a few interesting books and leaflets available there that you can take away free of charge. The Design Forum Shop is also worth exploring and offers a selection of Finnish design, from new releases to classics and from industrial design to unique, one-off products.

Whilst it is not a Finnish company, we did make a quick stop in Kartell, just to see what was new. But we had plenty more on the agenda so we didn’t hang around too long. We popped into Adessin/Private Case, Isabel B, Everyday Design and Eiring. We than skipped a few shops that didn’t look quite as interesting as we had hoped and we then stumbled unexpectedly across Armas Design in a quiet little street. Featuring the works of Tom Dixon and Hay this little shop was a real treasure trove of design goodies. Put this to the top of your list if you ever make it to the Design District.

We skipped a couple more places and made a quick dash towards Formverk, an intriguing shop that features a carefully edited range of furniture, lighting, kitchenware and accessories by some of the most interesting design names and brands. Again, this shop went straight on to the must visit list as it was jam packed full of designer brands.

Our next port of call was Aero Design Furniture, but there was unfortunately a private event on here so we weren’t allowed in. Undeterred, we continued on to Nounou Design, a great little shop selling colourful glass artwork and objects. The last few stops on our tour weren’t really that interesting to be honest. Or it could just be that we were exhausted by this time and running low on energy, so we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel, happy in the knowledge that we explored pretty much most of the interiors shops in the Design District.

 All images taken by Stacey Sheppard.

Have any of you been to Helsinki and explored the Design District before? I’d love to hear your thoughts if you have! What was your favourite store? Did you come across any great places you want to share with us?