World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 Open Helsinki – Embedding Design in Life
WE ARE OPEN - WE DESIGN FOR LIFE!!
Openness. That is the basis of World Design Capital Helsinki 2012. We want to be open in everything that we do. Open for suggestions, open in communication, open for conversation. Sure, we have events, a calendar filled with them. Not only in Finland but everywhere. Already now our satellite events take place around the globe. Milan, Berlin, London, Taipei, Tokyo and, of course, in New York City. World Design Capital Helsinki 2012, however, is more than just events or even projects. It’s about embedding design in life.
Our vision extends the concept of design from goods to services and systems. That means finding solutions to people’s needs through innovative design and a user--‐driven perspective. Usability, sustainability and desirability. That is what we are looking for.
Our Helsinki is also an open Helsinki. For us, openness equals transparency, curiosity, global responsibility and innovation. Just like design itself, World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 is everywhere around us. You can find it at galleries, shops or cafes in the Helsinki Design District. Or you can bump into it on your way to the grocery store. Design is also a feeling, a state of mind, and an attitude. We believe that design can create happiness.
HELSINKI
There was a time when Helsinki was considered as a distant place on the edge of the universe. Today, Helsinki is a known link between the East and the West. The closest destination from Europe on the way to Asia. And a halfway stop between North America and Asia. A vibrant, multicultural metropolitan area with a strong design tradition, a rapidly changing urban structure and a shared vision to become the global leader in the international field of design. We like where we are. We love what we are. We are excited about what we will become in the future. Helsinki is a fantastic place to live and even better to explore. We love Helsinki and we love our visitors. Welcome.
WORLD DESIGN CAPITAL HELSINKI 2012
We believe in collaboration. World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 is a platform for various participants and a joint venture between the cities of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Kauniainen and Lahti. Together, these cities make up an excellent pocket-sized metropolitan region in the design district of Southern Finland. The purpose of World Design Capital Helsinki 2012, however, is not to throw a great party for a year and then say goodbye. We want to make sure that our effect will last. We design for life.
WORLD DESIGN CAPITAL
Every second year one city is chosen as World Design Capital – a city that uses design from a social, cultural and economical perspective to reinvent the city. In 2012 World Design Capital is Helsinki.
World Design Capital is an initiative of Icsid, the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design, to promote the impact of design on quality of life. The first World Design Capital was Turin (Torino) of Italy in 2008. And the second World Design Capital was South Korea’s Seoul in 2010.
Helsinki together with Espoo, Vantaa, Kauniainen and Lahti is the World Design Capital of 2012. The theme for the Design Capital year is Open Helsinki – Embedding Design in Life.
World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 main partners
World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 main partners
Blue1, Finavia – Helsinki Airport, Fortum, HOK-Elanto, KONE, Martela, MTV MEDIA, Sanoma Magazines Finland, UPM, Viking Line
Association of Professional Graphic Designers in Finland Grafia: