Pavilion opening with the Finnish President

Cooperation is important for more than just our day-to-day work at Textklinik. Special events, in particular, require the cooperation of many different groups in order to be successful. The pavilion that was constructed on the occasion of Helsinki being named World Design Capital 2012 is a perfect example of that fact.The creation of a location that so spectacularly combines the indoors and outdoors was only made possible thanks to cooperation between the ‘Biofore Company’ UPM, a manufacturer of sustainable materials that supports wood architecture, and Aalto University, which educates the next generation of international designers. Up-and-coming young architect Pyry-Pekka Kantonen was responsible for the design; he took first place in the pavilion design competition and was subsequently awarded the commission. “My goal was to make all visitors to the pavilion feel like they are out in the forest, despite the fact that they are actually in a roofed building.” And that’s exactly the effect the pavilion achieves, with its futuristic shapes and its bright interior flooded with light. Triangles are the basic elements of the pavilion’s construction; their harmonious interplay generates ever larger triangles, so intertwined that they create a single architectural entity.

However, the pavilion is not only one of the WDC 2012’s design highlights. It is also the communicative focal point, meant to serve as a meeting spot and discussion forum for design fans from all over the world. Even Finnish President Sauli Niinistö was on site for the opening ceremony; in his address, he referred to Finland’s long history in design and the opportunity that the WDC provides for Helsinki and the rest of the country. We at Textklinik see this as a chance to discover something new, to transfer the hallmarks of modern storytelling into language that everyone can comprehend – because design has long been an integral part of our language, and it has to be translated from scratch every time.