Campus Arabia – Helsinki Design Week 2019

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  Campus Arabia opens up views to the present and future Metropolia University of Applied Sciences’ design and creative studies. The work and working environment of designers are facing continuous transformations. Tools that utilize virtual and extended reality bring along new working habits. The campus area introduces the design unit’s practical work projects and new … Read more

Extra summer tip: ORNO – Light and shape exhibition

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ORNO – Light and shape -lighting exhibition at Art and Museum Centre Sinkka in Kerava presents Orno’s famous design lighting as well as lighting prototypes by young designers from Aalto University. Two alumnis of Metropolia, Saara Ollila and Simo Lahtinen, have their lighting prototypes at the exhibition.

The balance between classic, well-known lamps and new, more experimental student designs, works well and keeps the visitor interested. The exhibition consists of a handful of sections divided by themes, such as design drivers or functional goals.

The exhibition is open at Sinkka in Kerava until August 25th, 2019.

Photos: Nora Anttonen & Eerika Minkkinen

Summer tips for design students

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Student budget wasn’t enough for a design trip to Japan? Don’t worry, there are plenty of things to see in Finland, too. Inspiring designs, art and classics from the history. Here we will tell you about the three must-see places this summer:

First of the summer tips is Fiskars, a fine little village full of design, art and craftsmanship. Open until the mid-September, the Fiskars Village Art & Design Biennale 2019 shows an interesting collection of design and modern art. Products presented in the Factory exhibition are made with different techniques, from traditional to the very modern ones, which creates an interesting setting. In the Museum of Fiskars there is a bit longer historical perspective to be seen, such as old Fiskars knifes and metal molds.

The other place to go, is the design combo located in the heart of Helsinki: Design and Architecture museums. Open until the end of September there is an exhibition called Secret Universe in the Designmuseum, which opens up the work of Aamu Song and Johan Olin, thus the COMPANY design duo. The staying exhibition leads the visitor through the history of Finnish design.

The Architecture museum might be a bit less familiar. Located in a neo-renaissance building right next to Designmuseum, it is easy to visit them both on the same excursion. The exhibitions of this summer, one about Eric Adlercreutz and his relation to drawing by hand, the other about Suur-Merijoki jugend palace, are open until September 8th. In addition to the exhibitions, the building itself is worth visiting – it has a exceptional proportions, because the side parts from the original building plan were never constructed. And that is the reason for the relatively big staircase.

 

 

The third place is located in Central Finland. When traveling in Jyväskylä, Alvar Aalto museum is a place to go. There is much to see, from the changing exhibition of the Gallery to the staying exhibition of Aalto’s life and production. There are architecture models, drawings and photographs but also Artek furniture and stories behind them. And if you find yourself more interested in Aalto’s work after the visit, we recommend going to Villa Aalto and Studio Aalto in Helsinki, as well as another kind of architectonic pearl, Paimion parantola.

 

First year of XR Design studies from a student’s perspective

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The newest specialization of the design studies in Metropolia is the XR Design. The very first class of XR Design students started their studies in Metropolia’s Arabia campus in the Fall of 2018. Veli-Matti Järvelä, one of the XR students tells us about the studies.

 

First, he explains what the two-letter-code means. “XR stands for extended reality. It’s a common term for the varied realities, where virtual things are added to the real world”. Right now XR consists of three fields. One of them is VR, virtual reality, which is an artificially created environment. As of now it usually includes the use of VR glasses. Here you can read the XR students’ thoughts on the possibilities of utilizing XR tools in design processes.

AR stands for augmented reality, which means adding floating elements, usually 2D, to the visible world. At this moment, AR is commonly used utilizing a mobile device. Some examples of real-life AR experiences are Instagram and Snapchat filters as well as the Pokémon Go game that gained much popularity a few years ago. The third form of XR is MR, meaning mixed reality. In MR the virtual things are mixed and implemented naturally into our real world environment. Although MR is not included in the XR courses at this time, it certainly will be when reasonable gadgets are more accessible.

 

During the first year of studies the XR curriculum mostly consist of 3D modeling and game engines, for example Unity, but the students are also able to participate in a wide scope of various courses ranging from technical drawing to photographing. Although most of the studies lean towards virtual creations, all of the students do have the possibility to use the school workshops (metal and wood) and the 3D printers on the campus.

XR students can specialize in two different fields, Media or Design. All of the students will graduate as a Bachelor of Culture and Arts. Still, there are small differences in the courses between these two orientations. The design studies orientate towards more concrete product design and 3D printing, whilst the media studies emphasize digital materials, 3D modeling and texturing.

“So far there has been plenty of interesting design projects”, tells Veli-Matti. For example a course where the media students used Zbrush to sculpt stylized and expressive 3D models, which were later painted and textured. Meanwhile the design students got to develop a new kind of game controller for XR environments, which were later 3D printed. Both of the courses were very working life -oriented, including peer critique and strict deadlines.

Interest in 3D graphics and games were the key reasons for Veli-Matti to apply to study XR design. Currently he is keen to learn about the possibilities of marketing in extended realities.

“When studying XR Design, it is helpful to have an ability to perceive visual spaces and dimensions. It is vital to understand the sizes of things to create true immersion in virtual reality”, Veli-Matti explains. “They may seem like small things at first, but turn out to make a big difference in a VR environment”.

The students have time for own projects too, that can also be included in the courses. There was a team project for the whole class, where they worked together to create an VR-escape room. The students were split into teams that each had a specific tasks to contribute into the project. “It has been amazing to be part of the brainstorming and creation right from the beginning and finally get to see the results of your work through VR-glasses. We planned and designed everything on paper first and now we are able to walk inside the space we created in virtual reality, it’s really rewarding,” Veli-Matti tells.

 

When the studies started what surprised Veli-Matti the most was how great atmosphere they have between the students. He mentions that the best part of the studies have been the other classmates and a great team spirit. “It is a motivating environment to learn when the atmosphere is so supportive and warm”. For example, some students have had some special know-how in writing program code. After school the students have had their own lessons where they have taught each other these or some other special skills. 

The first school year is now over and Veli-Matti has learned to use a variety programs and other skills regarding the field, but most importantly teamwork skills. “The ability to work with others is probably the most valuable skill in working life” and school has given the possibility for Veli-Matti and the other XR students to greatly enhance these skills.

Success in Protoshop

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This year, two Metropolia’s industrial design students have been selected to the Protoshop exhibition at Habitare Fair in September 2019. The chosen works are Jukka Surakka’s table and floor lamps Maiden, and Onni-Vilhelm Ojanen’s ceiling lamp Varjo. Altogether, there will be presented works by ten young designers, chosen from 117 participants.   Protoshop exhibition has … Read more

Photos from Extending Design Realities – the Pre-Event of Cumulus Conference 2019

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The Cumulus Conference 2019 Pre-Event Extending Design Realities was held on Tuesday 28th of May at Metropolia Arabia campus. The event was organized by Augmented Urbans and Finnish Design Academy projects.

There were interesting keynote speeches by five professionals of the field; Gunita Kuļikovska (Architect, VR entrepreneur, Opinion Leader CEO, Vividly),  Jarmo Suomisto (Project Manager, City of Helsinki, Architect, M.Sc. (Civ. Eng.)), Pedro Aibéo (Architect and Civil Engineer, Vis. Ass. Professor & Researcher, founder, CEO),  Stephan Barthel (Associate Professor, University of Gävle) and Lauri Lemmenlehti
(CEO, Plehat, Landscape Architect). These speeches led to good discussions.

The energy levels of the guests were taken care by special coffees made by the event’s barista. A fresh salad lunch was served after the keynotes at restaurant Luova. After that the visitors got to go on campus tours to see for example the workshops of Metropolia’s design students, and to hear about the studies. The tours ended to Helsinki XR Center open house, where it was possible to test different extended reality demos.

You can go watch and listen the keynote speeches here.

Here is some pictures from the event:

Photos: Eerika Minkkinen, 2019.

Glassblowing in Nuutajärvi

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Again, as the spring is soon about to turn into summer, it was time for the first-year students of industrial design to wrap up their first year of studies by travelling to Nuutajärvi glass village, two hours north-west from Helsinki. In collaboration with the Nuutajärvi glass school students and teachers the drinking glasses designed in the 3D-modeling programs became real objects. Cheers for summer break!

(Photos: three first Nora Anttonen, all the others Milla Korpi)

 

 

METEMUT Alumni Event

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METEMUT Alumni event for current and alumni students of Metropolia’s industrial design was held on Friday 26th of April at Arabia Campus of Arts. Lots of people gathered to the new campus and the atmosphere was excited and cheerful.

The evening started with a music performance, and the welcoming words following with the program of the evening. Then was the time for three short speeches by alumni students; first Marja Ojala, who works as a Lead Designer at Finnair, talked about continuous learning. Then Aaro Kurkela, working at Veikkaus as a Product Designer, listed the key tips for a designer at the working field. The third speaker was Jalmari Sarla, who has a little different perpective on design; he works with cities and urban planning, currently at the Augmented Urbans project. The evening continued with some more live music, pizza and mingling. There was also a possibility to get to see the workshop spaces of current students – and workshops were indeed quickly crowded with interested alumni´s.

The evening was a warm get together of creative people. METEMUT was first time held event, but definitely not the last!

Some photos from the evening:

(Photos by: Eerika Minkkinen & Nora Anttonen)

Spring Design Forum from students’ perspective

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    On 11th April, Thursday morning, first Spring Design Forum was held at Metropolia UAS´s campus. The event was organized by Aalto University as a part of Finnish Design Academy’s project. The auditorium was filled up with various design universities’ representatives, students and other people interested in the subject. As a nice addition to … Read more