Dossiers - Helsinki Design Lab

Clues to Open Helsinki

Last updated 18 March, 2012

A set of 19 'postcards from the future', written in 2010 to provoke thinking about the role of strategic design during Helsinki's World Design Capital 2012 year.

letter pt.1Hello from Helsinki 2012, This site features a set of postcards that feature clues to an open and happier Helsinki. As a collaboration between Sitra...

Design Ethnography Field Guide

Last updated 23 May, 2011

We created this sample "field guide" for participants of HDL Studios to use when venturing out to see the reality of a system as it is truly lived and experienced. Available in Finnish and English.

frogFour rules for 'designing design research' →frogdesign.com Jan Chipchase of Frog Design shares some insights from his many years leading that...

invitationWant to suggest something that should be listed here? Reach us via twitter @HDL2010 and let us know.

bigwordsWith the provided PDF files you can download and print your own Design Ethnography Fieldguide.

HCD toolkitSpecial consideration for the bottom of the pyramid →ideo.com Commercial design consultant powerhouse IDEO offer a Human-Centered Design...

Growing Västerbotten (HDL x UID)

Last updated 17 January, 2011

Umeå Institute of Design invited HDL to be part of their 'Prototyping the Future' experiment, a week where the school tests out new design practices. We hosted an Studio model looking at regenration of Sweden's Västerbotten county where Umeå is located.

TuesdayTuesday 09:00-12:00 Synthesis session: what do we know? 12:00-14:00 Lunch 14:00-18:00 Field visits / fact finding

MondayMonday 12.?? Marco's introduction 13.00 - 13.05 Chris Heister - short introduction 13.05 - 14.30 Thomas Westerberg - "Should I Stay or Should I Go...

intro2Working with the County of Västerbotten which is home to Umeå and the university, we asked the students to develop ideas that help...

Crit 1We ended the week by hosting a final review with the Governor and some of her staff, which was a chance to explore the students' work and how it...

Ageing Studio (2010)

Last updated 12 August, 2010

Most developed nations are going gray as their large boomer cohorts enter the later stages of life, and Finland will be amongst the first. HDL hosted a Studio on Ageing in the summer of 2010 to help understand what this will mean for Finland.

1.28 Million65+ year olds in Finland by 2020

Where to live?Where to live? Perhaps the most fundamental decision affecting the elderly

9. Honour Volunteering9. Honour Volunteering Could volunteerism flourish if there were more social rewards for participating?

The ChallengeThe Challenge Rethinking welfare for an ageing society

Ageing Studio SummaryThe Studio set out to articulate a new understanding of the ageing population based on 3 core tenets: new wealth & new health, the revised social...

Education Studio (2010)

Last updated 12 August, 2010

Finland has one of the best education systems in the world. But how useful will this status be in an era with new challenges and new criteria for success? HDL developed the Studio on Education to think about the future of education by beginning with an unlikely starting point: school dropouts.

Discontinuation increased [everywhere] except for vocational education.

3. From the current, institutional social welfare system to Social welfare system v 2.0 integrated with personal agency and empowerment3. From the current, institutional social welfare system to Social welfare system v 2.0 integrated with personal agency and empowerment

4. From administrative structures that are hierarchical and vertical to Ones that are inclusive, open and flexible4. From administrative structures that are hierarchical and vertical to ones that are inclusive, open and flexible

Sustainability Studio (2010)

Last updated 10 August, 2010

Sitra has been focused on sustainability with its Low2No competition and other efforts. The HDL Studio on Sustainability built upon these by sketching a national strategy for a carbon neutral built environment.

Opportunity SpaceOpportunity Space Relative to other nations, carbon neutrality is low hanging fruit for Finland in many reasons. The Finnish government is adept at...

Humanity shares a common fate on a crowded planet.

187.5%Increase in avg. floor area per person in Finland, from 14m² in 1960 to 39 m² in 2008

8. Invent Cellular Infrastructure8. Invent Cellular Infrastructure Explore smart grids and other technologies to make lower density viable with a smaller carbon footprint.