Design Museum (Finnish : Designmuseo, Swedish : Designmuseet) is a museum in Helsinki devoted to the exhibition of both Finnish and foreign design, including industrial design, fashion, and graphic design. The building is situated in Kaartinkaupunki, on Korkeavuorenkatu Street, and is owned by the Republic of Finland through Senate Properties. The building was completed in 1895 and originally built as a school building for the Swedish school Läroverket för gossar och flickor. [1]
The museum, which is 150 years old (2023) and one of the oldest in the world – was first founded in 1873 but has operated in its present premises, a former school, designed by architect Gustaf Nyström in 1894 in the neo-Gothic style, since 1978. In 2002, the museum changed its name from Taideteollisuusmuseo to Designmuseo ("Design Museum") because the original name was too long and complicated. [2] The museum also has a cafe and shop. Situated on the same city block is the Museum of Finnish Architecture.
The museum includes a permanent exhibition devoted to the history of Finnish design from 1870 to the present day, as well as space for changing exhibitions. The museum's permanent collection consists of over 75,000 objects, 40,000 drawings and 100,000 drawings. Design Museum arranges also international touring exhibitions and publishes books and exhibition catalogues. From museum's home page, there is a free access to several web exhibitions on Finnish design, for example about the production of Arabia Factory, Marimekko and designers Kaj Franck and Oiva Toikka. Latest web exhibition is about 1950–60s design – an iconic golden era of Finnish Design.
Tove Marika Jansson was a Swedish-speaking Finnish author, novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. Brought up by artistic parents, Jansson studied art from 1930 to 1938 in Helsinki, Stockholm, and Paris. She held her first solo art exhibition in 1943. Over the same period, she penned short stories and articles for publication, and subsequently drew illustrations for book covers, advertisements, and postcards. She continued her work as an artist and writer for the rest of her life.
Wäinö Valdemar Aaltonen was a Finnish artist and sculptor. The Chambers Biographical Dictionary describes him as "one of the leading Finnish sculptors".
Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture; Finnish: Aalto-yliopiston taiteiden ja suunnittelun korkeakoulu; Swedish: Aalto-universitetets högskola för konst, design och arkitektur), was formed of two separate schools: the faculty of architecture and the University of Art and Design Helsinki. TaiK, founded in 1871, was the largest art university in the Nordic countries. The university awards the following academic degrees: Bachelor of Science in Technology, Architect, Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and Doctor of Arts.
Arabianranta, sometimes simply Arabia, is a residential part of Helsinki, Finland. It is bound by Vanhankaupunginlahti bay from east, and connects to neighboring boroughs of Vanhakaupunki in north, Hermanni in south and Toukola and Kumpula in west. It is part of the greater Toukola region.
Uno Werner Ullberg was a famous Finnish architect.
Iittala, founded as a glassworks in 1881, is a Finnish design brand specialising in design objects, tableware and cookware. Iittala's official i-logo was designed by Timo Sarpaneva in 1956.
Viktor Bernhard "Faffan" Jansson was a Finnish sculptor belonging to the Swedish-speaking minority of Finland.
Vartiovuori Observatory is a former observatory in Turku, Finland. The observatory, designed by Carl Ludvig Engel, was originally built for the Royal Academy of Turku. The neoclassical building was completed in 1819. The observatory is situated atop the Vartiovuori hill, and it is clearly visible from different sides of the city centre.
The Natural History Museum is one of the museums under the directorship of the Finnish Museum of Natural History, part of the University of Helsinki, in Helsinki, Finland.
The Museum of Finnish Architecture is an architectural museum in Helsinki, Finland. Established in 1956, it is the second oldest museum of its kind devoted specifically to architecture. The museum was founded on the basis of the photographic collection of the Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA), which was established in 1949.
Eva Kuhlefelt-Ekelund was a pioneering Finnish woman architect and spouse of another famous Finnish architect, Hilding Ekelund.
Kunsthalle Helsinki is a non-profit exhibition space founded by various Finnish artist and art associations in 1928. Presenting annually 5–7 major exhibitions and special events, the main focus of the exhibition programme lies in contemporary art, as well as design and architecture. The Kunsthalle has been a central place for changing exhibitions since the beginning, and does not hold a permanent collection.
The Alvar Aalto Museum is a Finnish museum operating in two cities, Jyväskylä and Helsinki, in two locations each, dedicated to architect and designer Alvar Aalto. All four locations are open to the public. They are:
The Swedish Centre for Architecture and Design or ArkDes, previously known as the Museum of Architecture (Arkitekturmuseet), is a Swedish national museum dedicated to architecture and design. It is located on the island of Skeppsholmen in Stockholm, Sweden, in the same complex as Moderna Museet. The museum exhibits architecture, urban planning and design under its current director Kieran Long. It is an administrative authority under the Ministry of Culture.
Greta Olga Hällfors-Sipilä (1899–1974) was a Finnish painter. She participated enthusiastically in the new trends which reached Finland's art scene in the early 20th century, embracing Impressionism, Functionalism and Cubism.
The Sibelius Museum is a museum of music, named after the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The museum is located close to Turku Cathedral in the historical city centre of Turku on the southwest coast of Finland. It is the only museum devoted to music in Finland. The museum houses a wide collection of historical music instruments from around the world. The archives of the museum include documents The museum was first founded during the 1920s as a seminar for the Department of Musicology at Åbo Akademi University, and has later developed into its own department. The Museum is currently organised and funded by the Åbo Akademi Foundation. The current building was built and opened in 1968 and it was designed by architect Woldemar Baeckman.
Läroverket för gossar och flickor, also known as Brobergska samskolan or Broban, was a Swedish school that operated in Helsinki 1883–1973. The school was the first co-educational school in Finland. The author and artist Tove Jansson, creator of Moomin, went to Läroverket för gossar och flickor.
Nya svenska samskolan, was a Swedish-language, co-educational private educational institution in Helsinki, Finland, from 1888 to 1977.
Elin Hulda Maria Tompuri, known as Elli was a Finnish actress, director, dancer and author.
Keisarinnankivi is a monument located at the Market Square in Kaartinkaupunki in central Helsinki, Finland. The monument, designed by Carl Ludvig Engel, is the oldest public monument in Helsinki. It was revealed with celebrations on the name day of Nikolai on 18 December 1835 to commemorate the first visit to Helsinki by Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Emperor of Russia Nicholas I. The monument was erected at the spot where the imperial couple stepped ashore from the steamship Ischora on arrival in Helsinki on 10 June 1833. The monument was funded by a national collection of funds and by a grant given by the Imperial Senate of Finland.