Finland: Helsinki Design Week 2020 slated for Sept 3-13

NordenBladet – The Helsinki Design Week 2020 will be held from 3 to 13 September, said the City of Helsinki in a press release. The main exhibition, PechaKucha Night and Children’s Design Weekend will take place at the Olympic Stadium, the main venue of the event.

The main exhibition is to present topical and interesting fashion, design and architecture – the track and field events of design.

Exhibition contents will include individual products and installations as well as a comprehensive review of young designers’ works. These include an installation made of concrete and mycelium by the studio Caracara, Seitikki by carpenter Antrei Hartikainen, and an exhibition of benches curated by Jasper Morrison.

The main venue will offer an unforgettable setting for the largest PechaKucha Night in Europe on Saturday, the 12th of September.

“In addition to a unique architectural experience, the Olympic Stadium provides us with an exceptionally spacious venue. We can let 1,000 persons attend the PechaKucha Night in the grandstand outside, without compromising the safety distances,” said the festival director, Kari Korkman.

Children are our guests of honour during the weekend at the Olympic Stadium. Entry is free to the Children’s Design Weekend, which will feature a fun and engaging route designed by designer duo Anna van der Lei and Kristos Mavrostomos around the famous green of the Olympic Stadium. Families can enter this kids’ event freely.

The COVID-19 situation also impacts the design festival.

“Helsinki Design Week can be organised safely, because it is a series of responsibly arranged events of various sizes, not a single mass event. We have made the programme more virtual and designed the events sufficiently spacious,” said the programme director, Anni Korkman.

The Design Market, which in previous years attracted more than 20,000 visitors at the Cable Factory, will this year take place online and in various retail stores from Thursday, the 3rd of September to Saturday, the 5th of September.

The sixth Data-Driven Design Day is organised in digital format. The speakers include people from Finnish organisations, such as Kesko, Fortum, Posti, YLE, Sanoma Media Finland, HRT, and Helen.