Dispatches From Helsinki: Globe Pattern Upper-Case Missive Of The Alphabet 2012
Monday, 13 August 2012
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Guest Contributor postal service past times Julie Pasila
Beautiful Helsinki is the World Design Capital for 2012, a championship that is good deserved. The urban meat is a vibrant, cutting-edge metropolitan area, alongside incredible pattern at every turn. Helsinki is an obvious selection for such a recognition – you’ve got the flagship stores of pattern giants Marimekko, Iitalla too Arabia on 1 magical block (one block!), summation countless up-and-coming designers who stimulate got been raised inwards a body of body of water of genuinely skillful looking materials (Finns are lucky to last inwards a house where useful, beautiful pattern is embedded into everyday objects). But, it all the same got me thinking: What does it stimulate got to brand a urban meat World Design Capital?
WDC is the brainchild of ICSID (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design). Since its inception inwards 1957, ICSID has tried to growth the social significance of pattern inwards an essay out to influence global leaders to recognize the diverse merits of this field. WDC itself is exclusively a few years old, alongside Helsinki beingness the 3rd inwards a delineate that includes Torino, Italy, too Seoul, South Korea.
I started my pattern tour of Finland’s majuscule urban meat at Design Helps too came to come across why Helsinki genuinely deserves the WDC title. As my tour guide explained, “Finland is known approximately the world for ii things: pattern too welfare.” Republic of Finland is a successful welfare state, pregnant that all of the country's citizens are guaranteed a healthy, respectable touchstone of living past times virtue of beingness alive. Finns don’t simply prize the beautiful inwards their everyday objects, but they also arts and crafts elegant, working solutions to social problems. It’s no wonder that this province has a 100% literacy rate, 1 of the highest standards of living too 1 of the world’s best pedagogy systems. The combination that Republic of Finland has managed to do betwixt beauty too social responsibleness is a perfect illustration of what ICSID hopes to showcase to governments too world leaders.
Design Helps is a temporary exhibition space/shop dedicated to showcasing how Finnish designers are expanding beyond their borders to couple beauty too social aid inwards other parts of the world. Here are a few of my favourite ideas from the exhibit.
Earth House Systems are beautifully designed, well-crafted housing alternatives targeted towards humanitarian organizations. They are intended equally purpose of a solution to housing problems inwards developing countries, specially afterwards major catastrophes. EHS provides an ecological, prophylactic option to tents too tin dismiss last erected without special tools or a professional person locomote force. They fifty-fifty stimulate got seismic resistance!
Handpainted Type is dedicated to preserving the typographic practise of street painters inwards India. With the advent of novel technologies, these painters are going out of business; Handpainted Type collects artisan's fonts past times purchasing them direct from the painters. They thence document them too brand them available for world purchase. Proceeds are split upwards betwixt the painters too Handpainted Type.
These beautiful baskets are purpose of Tikau Share, a Finnish-registered NGO that supports sustainable evolution too empowerment inwards a pose out of pathetic Indian villages. Tikau Share helps villagers marketplace their products approximately the world, providing the artisans alongside sustainable employment.
Julie Pasila is a Canadian multidisciplinary creative mortal too writer. She holds a Master of Fine Arts inwards Documentary Media from Ryerson University, too a Bachelor of Arts inwards Studio Art too English linguistic communication Literature from the University of Guelph. She is currently available for freelance exhibitions too assignments inwards Canada too abroad.
Beautiful Helsinki is the World Design Capital for 2012, a championship that is good deserved. The urban meat is a vibrant, cutting-edge metropolitan area, alongside incredible pattern at every turn. Helsinki is an obvious selection for such a recognition – you’ve got the flagship stores of pattern giants Marimekko, Iitalla too Arabia on 1 magical block (one block!), summation countless up-and-coming designers who stimulate got been raised inwards a body of body of water of genuinely skillful looking materials (Finns are lucky to last inwards a house where useful, beautiful pattern is embedded into everyday objects). But, it all the same got me thinking: What does it stimulate got to brand a urban meat World Design Capital?
WDC is the brainchild of ICSID (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design). Since its inception inwards 1957, ICSID has tried to growth the social significance of pattern inwards an essay out to influence global leaders to recognize the diverse merits of this field. WDC itself is exclusively a few years old, alongside Helsinki beingness the 3rd inwards a delineate that includes Torino, Italy, too Seoul, South Korea.
I started my pattern tour of Finland’s majuscule urban meat at Design Helps too came to come across why Helsinki genuinely deserves the WDC title. As my tour guide explained, “Finland is known approximately the world for ii things: pattern too welfare.” Republic of Finland is a successful welfare state, pregnant that all of the country's citizens are guaranteed a healthy, respectable touchstone of living past times virtue of beingness alive. Finns don’t simply prize the beautiful inwards their everyday objects, but they also arts and crafts elegant, working solutions to social problems. It’s no wonder that this province has a 100% literacy rate, 1 of the highest standards of living too 1 of the world’s best pedagogy systems. The combination that Republic of Finland has managed to do betwixt beauty too social responsibleness is a perfect illustration of what ICSID hopes to showcase to governments too world leaders.
Design Helps is a temporary exhibition space/shop dedicated to showcasing how Finnish designers are expanding beyond their borders to couple beauty too social aid inwards other parts of the world. Here are a few of my favourite ideas from the exhibit.
Earth House Systems are beautifully designed, well-crafted housing alternatives targeted towards humanitarian organizations. They are intended equally purpose of a solution to housing problems inwards developing countries, specially afterwards major catastrophes. EHS provides an ecological, prophylactic option to tents too tin dismiss last erected without special tools or a professional person locomote force. They fifty-fifty stimulate got seismic resistance!
Handpainted Type is dedicated to preserving the typographic practise of street painters inwards India. With the advent of novel technologies, these painters are going out of business; Handpainted Type collects artisan's fonts past times purchasing them direct from the painters. They thence document them too brand them available for world purchase. Proceeds are split upwards betwixt the painters too Handpainted Type.
These beautiful baskets are purpose of Tikau Share, a Finnish-registered NGO that supports sustainable evolution too empowerment inwards a pose out of pathetic Indian villages. Tikau Share helps villagers marketplace their products approximately the world, providing the artisans alongside sustainable employment.
*****
Julie Pasila is a Canadian multidisciplinary creative mortal too writer. She holds a Master of Fine Arts inwards Documentary Media from Ryerson University, too a Bachelor of Arts inwards Studio Art too English linguistic communication Literature from the University of Guelph. She is currently available for freelance exhibitions too assignments inwards Canada too abroad.