Courses focus on themes of sustainability in a multidisciplinary way
Course themes
The Aalto ARTS Summer School, held for the first time 1–12 August 2022 brought together around 50 professors and students from different fields: product design, industrial design, architecture, fashion, art education and engineering.Professor Kirsi Niinimäki from Department of Design led the academic content planning. The aim of the course was to increase understanding of the biggest challenges of our time and how change can be achieved through cross-disciplinary collaboration.
Over two weeks, the course focusing on the circular economy and collaborative design produced visions, concepts and solutions for the future. International and multidisciplinary workshops and lectures were organized to help understand the kind of change needed to transform the current linear economy towards a circular economy. The workshops and lectures covered topics such as materials and products in the circular economy, systemic concepts of the circular economy and the role of future scenarios.
Co-design was a way of bringing together skills and interests, solving burning problems and creating shared visions and concepts for the future. Students emphasized the importance to use imagination and look to the future in their own design work. The work was conceptual, yet practical: participants were able to experiment and prototype in a number of workshops at the School of Arts, Design and Architecture.
Theme for the summer of 2023 is exploring forests and wood in its varying appearances and in scales of landscape architecture, urban design, building design and interior architecture. It studies the importance of forest with wide scope from biodiversity and production of ecosystem services to economically managed forests and wood building processes.
The mission is to look sustainable ways to use forests both in their natural form and as industrial resource and create living environments built in wood and in balance with surrounding nature. We’ll also study the importance of forest with a wide scope from biodiversity and production of ecosystem services to economically managed forests and wood building processes and the ethics related to it. The course introduces you to the different viewpoints of forest and uses of forest
and wood. The aim is to give an understanding of the role of forest in:
• preserving biodiversity
• as natural habitat
• water, nutrient and carbon cycle
• climate and erosion regulation
• industrial use of wood
• building with wood
• wellbeing and recreation
In the immersive landscape of the digital frontier, Summer School of 2024 aims to harness the power of art and technology to address water-related societal challenges. Focused on interdisciplinary collaboration, the program will explore water issues through the lenses of data visualization, game design, film, and AR-VR Mixed-Reality, all integrated with AI.
Collective objective is to foster cross-disciplinary collaboration and proficiency in data visualization, game design, film production, and AR-VR mixed-reality exploring emerging role of AI in these cross-discipline mix.
Expected Outcomes:
- Holistic understanding where participants will gain a holistic perspective on water issues, merging scientific knowledge with artistic expression.
- Creative Solutions and expression: The interdisciplinary approach will encourage innovative solutions and artistic expression to water-related challenges.
- Advocacy Through Art: Artistic creations will serve as powerful tools for advocacy, sparking conversations and driving societal change.
Summer School is open to undergraduate and graduate students, early-career professionals, and enthusiasts interested in the intersection of technology and creative arts. We expect applicants to have core abilities in conceptual thinking, reading, writing and presenting. We also require some hand on skills on some of the following: game design, data visualization, filmmaking, storytelling, AR/VR or MR and AI tools.
In the face of severe sustainability crises, there is a need for fundamental change in how we approach cities and built environments. Given the significant environmental impacts of construction, we urgently need to develop alternatives for demolition and new construction to answer spatial needs in more sustainable ways. This also opens opportunities for new spatial practices, stakeholders, and voices beyond the construction sector. For example, we could harness the diverse knowledge of artists, designers, scientists, storytellers, and other stakeholders to find solutions to challenges facing our cities in the era of limited resources.
Let us imagine a world that has run out of sand, metal, water, and energy needed for construction – what kinds of new solutions and practices would emerge to answer spatial needs? For example, would this lead to better caring for already existing materials and spaces – or to radical and activist practices disrupting the political and economic systems behind construction? What would you do?
The Summer School on Spatial Practices Beyond New Construction invites students from different fields to develop alternative ways of shaping built environments and engaging with related environmental, material, and sociopolitical questions. We will employ transformative futures methods to unpack current unsustainable paradigms, creatively rethink spatial practitioner roles, and develop unconventional solutions to address a concrete spatial challenge at the Aalto campus.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Environmental, social, and political agency: The participants will learn about the environmental impacts of the built environment. They will gain capacities to develop environmentally and socio-politically responsible modes of engagement in spatial contexts.
Critical and transformative futures methods: The participants will learn to employ various futures methods to critically unpack current modes of thinking and creatively explore new alternatives.
Creative and analytical exploration: The participants will learn to employ both creative, artistic means and analytical tools in a cross-disciplinary environment in order to develop radical alternatives for current spatial practices.
COURSE SCHEDULE
Online activities (2 ECTS)
4.6. Online symposium
5.6.-31.7. Online group work
On-site Summer School (4 ECTS)
3.8. Kick-off and get together
4.-15.8. Group work and workshops at the Aalto campus
10.8. Social programme in Nuuksio National Park
15.8. Exhibition and closing
SOCIAL PROGRAMME
In the middle of intensive studies, we want to offer you a chance to spend a day in a Finnish forest in the beautiful Nuuksio National Park. During the course, we will also guide you to explore unique sites in Helsinki that offer examples of citizen activism in shaping public spaces and urban culture.
The social program for Aalto Arts Summer School links with the theme by sparking excitement about Finnish nature, culture, architecture, and design. Excursion destinations range from Helsinki's archipelago and Nuuksio National Park to selected built environments and inspiring spaces.
by May 5th.