The STRAIGHTFORWARD New Finnish Design event presents innovative solutions to matters of everyday life by individual designers and design oriented companies during Meatpacking District Design ‘10. The event focuses on today’s interpretations of the traditional values that made Finnish Design world famous sixty years ago. It consists of an exhibition, a lounge area, a pop-up store, and a website. The theme of the event is further explored in a documentary film screened in the lounge and in a series of side events.

The exhibition features furniture and product design while the pop-up store offers a wider selection of smaller design objects from glassware to fashion and jewelry. Straightforward showcases young designers side by side with more established designers and design oriented companies.

STRAIGHTFORWARD is part of an ongoing series presenting new Finnish design in North America. The previous New Finnish Design events VALVOMO, HARDCORE and PLAYFUL did each attract over 5,000 visitors during the annual Meatpacking District Design Weeks in 2007-2009.

Info on the previous events can be found at www.hardcoredesign.net and www.playfuldesign.net

Concept

“Is it not the ultimate meaning of the beautiful to
be essential, functional, justified, truthful?”
— Designer Kaj Franck (1911–1989)

Designer Kaj Franck is often described as the conscience of Finnish design. He thought that in order to be designated good and beautiful, an object had to be durable, robust, easy to clean, functional, do justice to the materials used for it, and be indispensable. By removing everything excessive from his designs and leaving only the essential, he created a design philosophy, which has become the backbone of Finnish design.

The starting point for STRAIGHTFORWARD stemmed from the validity of this principle today. The route was to discover the ways in which present day Finnish design still embraces those traditional values, and how these values have been reinterpreted today.

The objects on show in STRAIGHTFORWARD illustrate/reveal how the young designers of today are deeply influenced by the classics of Finnish Design. However, there are evident changes in how design is understood and created:
…If before nature was a shared source of inspiration, now the urban life and environment is as powerful a resource.
…If before the materials used gave shape to a Finnish design aesthetics, today designers are not merely making use of existing materials but also conceiving new ones.
…If in earlier days the search for a national identity was a main driver of Finnish design, now it is evident that Finnishness is not bound by territory or nationality.
…If technology used to be at the core of the debates, now there is an aspiration for finding invisible and humane technical solutions alongside a strive for a revival of the crafts
…If before quality and long life were the essential values, now there are also alternative pursuits to give a second life to products through creative reuse and adaptation.

A focus on the essential remains key but within new scopes and geographies, not only in Finland but throughout the world.

Designers are not only reinventing objects, but also themselves. They are confident in asking the hard questions of why and how to understand, to do and feel design. They are not afraid of playing different roles, of slipping between disciplinary boundaries. Opinions are strong, and they are worth hearing.

STRAIGHTFORWARD does not feel like an end in itself. Rather, it can be called an introductory chapter to what is to come. The momentum in Finland – in face of new educational structures, a global presence and the nomination of Helsinki as the World Design Capital for 2012 – gives an atmosphere of an ongoing transformation which is not limited to the sphere of design, but which will surely be appreciated in design and in the Finnish society at large. The optimism of renewal can be felt, and a surprising new Finnish Design may very well be underway.

Project team

Finnish Cultural Institute in New York

Phuong Chu
Juulia Kauste
Kati Laakso
Essi Rautiola
Maria Silvennoinen
Anssi Vallius

Consulate General of Finland in New York

Riitta Gerlander
Magdalena Herrgård

Huippu Design Management

Laura Sarvilinna

Curators

Paula Bello
Teemu Oksanen

Exhibition Architecture

Teemu Oksanen

Graphic Design and Illustrations: Agent Pekka

Johannes Ekholm
Minni Havas

Photography

Kaarle Hurtig

Video Production

Fake Graphics

Video Concept

Mafe Bello
Jonathan Mander

Sound Production: Silencio

Kimmo Oksanen

Teemu Oksanen

Petri Salonen

Logistics

Sami Suova

Website: client.fi

Niko Hirvonen