You’ll find us at the Ahead! area (hall 5), on Wednesday 1.9. and during the weekend 4.-5.9.

This year’s theme at the Ahead! area is synergy, which draws strength from the fruits of cooperation and – rather untypical of the design industry – shifts the attention from individuals to communities: work groups, interest groups and networks of designers, manufacturers, clients and users. The area presents different aspects of the design process each day: Wednesday is the day of designers, Thursday for manufacturers, and Friday for marketing professionals. During the weekend’s design market, young designers will be selling their products to the visitors of the fair.

More information of the fair: www.finnexpo.fi/habitare

DOUBLE HAPPY – (8+8=19) Views on Architecture in Finland and China is a new review published by Newly Drawn and edited by OK Do. Double Happy brings together an international group of practitioners that wish to stir up the architectural discourse in the two countries – and beyond.

I was invited to write for the publication to share views on the Finnish urban conditions. The article From Shrinking Cities to Rural Dreams discusses the unique situation and future potentials of Finnish small towns, related to more worldwide phenomena. The article will be soon be available also on this website.

Double happy will be published as a part of Helsinki Design Week in Finland on 1^st September, and together with October issue of Beijing based Art&Design Magazine in China. The publication will be available from the beginning of September at napabooks.com among other good books stores.

Vip section of the Finnish pavilion Kirnu at the Shanghai World expo 2010. Photo by Lucas Schifres

The World Expo 2010 theme ‘Better City – Better Life’ challenges countries and companies to find and develop positive and optimistic means through product development to take on the challenges of urbanization. One of the big challenges is to find sustainable methods on all levels of city construction.

Bol lamps have been chosen for the VIP-areas in the Kirnu Finland Pavilion, which was opened in May 2010. Bol meets the sustainable challenges at the level of product design, being made of recycled materials with a process that requires little energy. Both Bol lamps and the facade of the Kirnu pavilion serve as interesting examples of upcycling leftover materials in different scales, and turning them into new products of good quality. The building’s facade is clad in shingles which are made of a mixture of paper and plastic, a recycled product of industry.

As the visitor flow of Kirnu steadily continues and recently broke the line of 3 million, it is estimated that the number of visitors during the Expo will probably surpass the population of Finland. The Expo will be open until the end of October, 2010.

More info: www.finlandatexpo2010.fi

Photo: Bernhard Ludewig

The summer has gone fast, but Bol is still touring around in Central Europe. Here are some photos from the second edition of BerliNordik. This exhibition of sustainable product and fashion design was open during July 8 – 11, at the atrium of Deutsche Bank ‘Unter den Linden’ in Berlin.

With more than 1000 visitors altogether the second BerliNordik exhibition was a big success. 19 fashion and product designers from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Berlin presented their work, showing a wide range of different approaches on the topic of sustainability.

The exhibition made it clear that there are many possible solutions for the design of the future – but the journey has only just begun. “In ten years we will not discuss about this topic… because we will have sustainable design as a usual everyday thing”, says Kirsten Jurchen, the initiator of BerliNordik.

Photo: Martina Zeyen

Photo: Bernhard Ludewig

Photo: Martina Zeyen

Bol Lamps have now joined Facebook. Sign up for the page to follow the latest news, updates and discussions!

Photo: Bernhard Ludewig

The BerliNordik Bright Green Design exhibition was opened on Tuesday 8th June at the International Design Center Berlin. In an open panel discussion, different aspects of today’s and tomorrow’s eco-design were debated. Ares Kalandides (Create Berlin), Cornelia Horsch (IDZ), jury members Axel Kufus, Jerszy Seymour and designers Hella Hernberg (FIN) and Adrian Paulsen (N) – together with the audience – explored various perspectives of sustainability in design. The discussion covered themes such as product life cycles, global vs local production, consumer habits, greenwashing, cultural and social sustainability and design education.

The product design exhibition at the International Design Center was the first of a series of three exhibitions organised by BerliNordik during the summer 2010. Between June 8 – 13, 10 young product designers from Berlin and the Nordic countries showcased their ideas of sustainable design – the Bol lamp by Hella Hernberg representing Finland. The Bol will participate also the following two BerliNordik exhibitions. The next one, focusing on sustainable fashion and product design, will be open during the Berlin Fashion Week, July 8 – 11, at the atrium of Deutsche Bank ‘Unter den Linden’, next to the Deutsche Guggenheim museum.

Photo: Bernhard Ludewig

Visitors. Photo: Bernhard Ludewig

Bol. Photo: Bernhard Ludewig

»More photos from the opening

Bol lamps will participate the BerliNordik Bright Green Design exhibitions during summer 2010, showcasing young and sustainable product design from Berlin and the Nordic countries. The first exhibition, focusing on product design, takes place at the International Design Center in Berlin on June 8-13 2010.

The exhibition displays and discusses different approaches to the theme of sustainable design. From each Nordic country, one design object (Bol representing Finland), and from Berlin, 5 projects have been chosen.

During the inauguration of the exhibition, also a panel discussion will take place, in which members of the jury, the designers and the audience will question the concept of “green design” and discuss the need for guidelines for designers, producers and end-consumers.

BerliNordik – Forum for Sustainable Design – is an international platform that brings together young talented designers from Berlin with their colleagues from the Nordic countries on the subject of sustainable design. During the summer and autumn 2010, they will organise three different exhibitions showcasing fashion and product design on the field of sustainability.

The main themes of the book are: “Design Creating a Better Life”, “Design as a Means of Expression”, “Design Shaping the Future”, and “Design as a Business Tool”. The yearbook, published by Design Forum Finland, also reflects present and coming events such as Expo 2010 in Shanghai and Helsinki’s role as World Design Capital in 2012.

The latest issue (#5) of Taide&Design magazine presents a 10-page article of Kalasatama Harbour and the temporary project we are working on at Part oy. A very nice story – we are happy!