Visualising Our Future Public Realm (VOF)

An architectural research project led by Aalto University and Tampere University. We collaborate with five leading architectural offices in Finland on an ambitious goal to explore sustainable building, urban design, and mobility and develop a digital product that will drive the green transition in architectural practice.

It is already widely known that architecture and construction is the largest sector in economies causing huge numbers of emissions and negatively affecting the natural environment. This requires industries to change their operations and deliver the green transition urgently. One of the underutilised forces is the creativity of design agencies. However, Finnish design-related companies face challenges in navigating new sustainability goals, as the concept is complex and unclear, extending beyond aesthetics, functionality, and even technical aspects.

The project partners with leading architecture and engineering firms from Finland: ALA Architects, Lukkaroinen Architects, ,, and Sitowise. These companies already have exceptional foundational skills for the green transition and they seek to deepen their understanding of sustainable architecture and refine their services. Architects are ambitious to demonstrate international examples in sustainable design and make this expertise their competitive advantage. The VOF project will assist architectural offices in developing new sustainable design skills and practices, enhancing the global recognition of Finnish architecture.

The project focuses on digital tools to enable neighbourhood green transitions through improving public spaces, local services and transport systems, and social practices. It questions which tools best support architects and urban planners to deliver this transition and how to integrate them into professional practices. We aim to create a prototype of the tool and a series of scientific publications answering this.

Business Finland funded Visualising Our Future Public Realm Together in 2023-2024 aiming for structural renewal in business and industry, while gaining a competitive advantage in sustainable solutions.

We are able to deal with the quite large projects and systems and take big technically elaborate responsibilities. We learn the kind of more intimate community engagement skills and more nuanced approaches, but we can certainly be proud of capability of handling quite large issues.

Antti Nousjoki, architect SAFA, founding partner at ALA Architects

Finnish Architecture is maybe missing communication skills and beneficial unique selling points.

Professor Antti Ahlava

We need to create a common understanding of what is sustainable and how can we achieve it.

Mikko Lahikainen, architect SAFA, CEO at Olla Architecture

We aim to develop and implement innovative methods and tools that foster collaboration, inclusivity, and sustainable design.

Aleksi Rastas, Founding Partner, CEO, MUUAN Ltd.

Director of the project, Professor of Emergent Design Methodologies Antti Ahlava (Aalto University, Department of Architecture, Group X); Professor of Architectural Design (Tampere University, School of Architecture, Faculty of Built Environment, SPREAD research group). Along with Post-doctoral researcher Laura Berger and Doctoral researcher (Department of Architecture), Post-doctoral researcher Rosana Rubio (for the beginning of the project) and Doctoral researcher Simon Kay-Jones (Tampere University, School of Architecture, Faculty of Built Environment).

In collaboration with Senior Research Fellow from the Royal College of Art (Intelligent Mobility Design Centre) and SmartViz company led by Shrikant Sharma.

Finnish architecture firms:

ALA Architects, represented by founding partner, architect SAFA Antti Nousjoki, business development manager Essi Rautiola, and concept designer Thomas Miyauchi;

Lukkaroinen Architects, represented by Laura Sorri and Satu Fors;

Muuan, represented by CEO and founding partner, architect SAFA Aleksi Rastas;

Olla Architecture, represented by CEO, architect SAFA Mikko Lahikainen and interior architect Tea Ellala;

Sitowise, represented by head of department, Urban Design Kirsi Rantama, design manager Matias Halmeenmäki, and service manager and BIM expert Jarkko Männistö.

Publications

The team produced a - Visualising our future: Designing the public realm together (2024) publication and several scientific articles, that are listed below.

Ahlava, A. (Ed.) (2024). Visualising our future: Designing the public realm together (Aalto University Publication Series Art + Design + Architecture, No. 7). Aalto University.
“Exploring the Meta-plasticity of Digital Tools Through Emerging Trends in Design Processes”. Author: Simon Kay-Jones. Presented at the Urban Planning & Architectural Design for Sustainable Development conference (UPADSD) at the University of Florence, Italy, 2024. Will be published in Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation (ASTI), Springer, during 2025.
“Assemblies: Service-Oriented Digital Platform for the Green Transition in Architecture”. Authors: Natalia Vladykina & Antti Ahlava. Presented at the Urban Planning & Architectural Design for Sustainable Development conference (UPADSD) at the University of Florence, Italy, 2024. Will be published in Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation (ASTI), Springer, during 2025.
“Libraries as Generators of Peace” (working title). Author: Laura Berger. Presented at the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP) conference in Paris, France, 2024. To be published in an edited book by Routledge during 2025.
“Engaging Autonomy: Helsinki Central Library Oodi”. Authors: Fernando Nieto & Laura Berger. Presented at the International Conference on Architecture between Autonomy and Engagement (CICA), 2024. The article will be published as a book chapter in a proceedings book by Park Books, Zurich, during 2025.
“Conviviality and Urban Planning” (in Finnish). Author: Laura Berger. Will be published in Yhdyskuntasuunnittelu journal in Finnish during 2025.
Wisdom Letters | University of Jyväskylä. Authors: Antti Ahlava, Laura Berger, Simon Kay-Jones, Fernando Nieto, Dan Phillips, Natalia Vladykina. Will be published during 2025.
“Qualitative Evolutionary Design for Social Innovation in Architecture”. Author: Antti Ahlava. Presented at the AMPS Livable Cities Conference at University College London, 2024.

Livable cities-artikkeli: Ahlava, Antti 2025. Qualitative Evolutionary Design for Social Innovation in Architecture. In Owen, Ian (ed.) : Design and the Urgency of Climate Challenge, pp. 219-230. London: AMPS. ISBN 978-1-0369-0933-8.
"Social Innovation as Business: New Design Method for Architecture offices". Author: Antti Ahlava. Presented at Power of Design conference at Singapore University of Art and Design, 2024. Will be published in SUTD's Power of Design publication, edited by Ong Eng Hong, SUTD.

Presentations

Fernando Nieto was an invited keynote speaker at seminar on culture and community to combat loneliness at San Telmo Museum in San Sebastián (Spain) in November 2024 with a presentation titled "Architecture to generate social bonds". Read more about the event .

In May 2023 Laura Berger and Rosana Rubio Hernández spoke at Kaupunkitutkimuksen päivät/Urban Planning Days in Helsinki. Read more about the event .

The project involved master-level students into exploration through two university courses. A cross-disciplinary Capstone Project studio course for students in architecture, urban geography and interior architecture took place at Aalto University with a trip to London for a site visit and a workshop in the Royal College of Art in autumn 2023. Titled , it explored a new direction for evolutionary architecture and social innovation. Another was held at the Tampere University’s School of Architecture during spring 2024. Students and researchers collaborated to improve the visualisation of architectural and urban design which resulted in new digital ways to visualise the potential of the green transition. A selection of some of the best student projects in the course is available at .

An AI ‘podcast conversation’ that aims to help Finnish architects and urban designers promote the green transition through value sensitive design

Author: Dan Phillips, Royal College of Art, Nov 2024

'We need to identify and prioritise shared, project-based values by visualising the beliefs, culture, attitudes and organisational archetypes of the project and embed these values into project missions, goals and principles. We need to create clarity of purpose by reflecting and reinforcing values throughout a project and at every scale and interaction.'

This 'AI discussion’, created using Google LM notebook, reflects on ongoing research centred around, “Visualising values for our future public realm”. It begins by sharing why values matter, emphasising their role in shaping decision-making and aligning individual and collective goals. It explores the relationship between values and the green transition, identifying how our values can guide design practices toward ecological and social sustainability. Finnish design traditions, linked to underlying cultural and environmental awareness, provide a case study in how design heritage and cultural values can inform creative and innovative approaches to public and urban realm transition challenges.

The conversation goes on to discuss the role of digital tools and value visualisation in making values tangible within complex design processes. Methods such as value cards, emotional mapping and narrative storytelling are used to negotiate competing values and build consensus or innovative responses to change. Visualisation is seen as a key tool to reconcile different perspectives to achieve shared goals.

It also warns us of the potential biases built into computing technology, either through neglect or the different values encoded in technical systems by the programmers. AI should not be allowed to dictate the future. Instead it should support human creativity, increase inclusiveness and lead to more open design solutions that involve communities and question assumptions inherent in algorithmic tools.

It ends with a call to action: designers should constantly explore how their values guide their actions, how their values can be brought to life through visualisations and how these shape the world we want to live in.