Designs for a Cooler Planet

Designs for a Cooler Planet highlights

Get to know some of the most interesting projects from the previous Designs for a Cooler Planet exhibitions envisioning sustainable future
Piece of ceramics exploding

Cutting the carbon out of concrete

The Radical Ceramic Research Group is pioneering potentially transformative alternatives to traditional concrete, the world’s second largest source of emissions.

Radical ceramics: Rethinking geopolymers

A living laboratory, with local materials, experiments and haptic prototypes to uncover the potential of geopolymers.

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Selected geopolymer test cubes. Clockwise from left: chamotte, calcined Finnish clay, raw Finnish clay, feldspar and volcanic rock. Photo: Johannes Kaarakainen, 2022

Mies on selkä päin kameraa, katsoo tietokoneelta kuvaa aivoista.

Playing with the music of the brain

Common neurological disorders like depression and chronic pain can be challenging to treat with conventional methods. An automated version of a long-used brain stimulation technique holds real promise as a reliable and effective drug-free alternative.

Wireless connection to the human brain

Learn about cutting-edge technology to study the brain, revolutionize diagnosis and transform therapy.

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A room for brain scanning
HuojuA pavilion photo

Huoju-A – a multi-sensory wooden pavilion

Mindful, experiential architecture.

Alusta pavilion

Alusta pavilion – Environmentally conscious architecture

A place for encounters between humans and non-human animals.

A human-friendly, giant insect hotel emerged in the middle of the city

Alusta, built from clay and populated by plants, is a sanctuary for pollinators and a meeting place for all living things.

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Image from remote site: aaltouniversity.shorthandstories.com
Colour photo of a human hand holding a cattail flower that is spilling fluffy seeds on a black background

Fluff Stuff: Textile fillings from rewetted peatlands

An exhibition featuring prototype textile products and fillings, ranging from interior textiles to fashion apparel.

An eco-filling to replace down

A hundred years ago, cattail fluff was used as life vest filling – now a Finnish company wants the eco-friendly material for pillows and winter coats. Restoring peat bogs for cattail cultivation would also significantly reduce Finland’s emissions, according to the company.

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Image from remote site: aaltouniversity.shorthandstories.com
Two jackets made of optimized textiles for covering solar cells

The results of the Sun-powered Textiles project will be presented as showcase jackets

A showcase jacket is a tangible result of the Sun-powered Textiles project

Sun-powered Textiles - Textile solar cell modules for energy harvesting in wearables

The research results of the Sun-powered Textiles project will be presented

Sun-powered Textiles: Background and exhibition in Designs for a Cooler Planet 2021
Solar cells and textiles to be combined for energy harvesting in textile wearables

Irene Purasachit

Irene Purasachit saw the floral industry’s waste problem firsthand – now she makes material for handbags from discarded blooms

Nearly half of cut flowers end up in the trash, never making their way to dinner tables or first dates

Flower Matter: innovative materials from flower waste

Turning flower waste into environmentally responsible materials.

Flower Matter: Background and exhibition in Designs for a Cooler Planet 2021
FlowerMatter
cucumbers on a plate covered with biobased liquid

No more plastic wrap? Students create novel biobased packaging for cucumbers

A dip in the biobased liquid gives cucumbers a protective film. Innovative idea will be presented in the international BioDesign Challenge competition.

Materialising the Future – CHEMARTS 10 years

Why recycle bio-based materials? Can bio-based materials replace plastics? Does it make sense to use trees as materials?

Materialising the Future: Background, projects and exhibition in Designs for a Cooler Planet 2021
Lahjoitus Kemian tekniikan korkeakoululle on sijoitus kestävään tulevaisuuteen
Shimmering wood

Multidisciplinary project 'Shimmering wood' shortlisted in Fast Company’s 2021 World Changing Ideas Awards

Shimmering wood is an innovation of Noora Yau and Konrad Klockars.

Wood-based structural shimmering wood colour has no colour pigments. Photo: Valeria Azovskaya

Shimmering Wood by Structural Colour Studio

Nature’s brightest colours – like those found in peacock feathers or butterfly wings – are created through microscopically small nanostructures.

Events
Tohtorikoulutettavat Noora Yau ja Konrad Klockars seisovat vierekkäin valkoista taustaa vasten. Heidän välissään on pystysuora puinen levy, joka on pohjaväriltään musta, mutta pinnassa on kirkkaita sinisiä ja keltaisia kuvioita. Kuva: Jaakko Kahilaniemi.

Parallel paths: Designer and materials scientist conjure up glimmering colours out of wood

Designer Noora Yau and materials scientist Konrad Klockars have used wood to conjure up a colour, which is transparent yet glows like a copepod in shallow water. The pair’s good chemistry and open attitude towards asking silly questions is a great help in their work.

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Julia Lohmann's Kombu Ahtola algae sculpture at Annantalo.

Hidaka Ohmu – The seaweed pavilion

The seaweed pavilion is on display at the A Bloc shopping centre on the Otaniemi campus 16.11-16.12.2020. You can experience Julia Lohmann's Kombu Ahtola algae piece at Annantalo (Annankatu 30, Helsinki) on 20 August 2020–31 January 2021.

Julia Lohmann's Hidaka Ohmu at A Bloc shopping centre. Photo: Mikko Raskinen

Seaweed pavilion Hidaka Ohmu

The installation Julia Lohmann designed for the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2020, is on display at the A Bloc shopping centre in Otaniemi.

Events
Julia Lohmann's Department of Seaweed at WEF. Photo: Mikko Raskinen

Julia Lohmann: ‘We know too much and do too little’

Lohmann’s magnificent seaweed pavilion won the sustainable design category for Dezeen Awards 2020.

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Natural Indigo project, design by Arttu Åfield & Kirsi Niinimäki. Photo Eeva Suorlahti

Natural Indigo: New Luxury from Northern Fields

Crops4Luxury (PeltoLuksus) project studied special crops that could replace synthetic textile dyes sustainably and ethically

Marimekko_Natural Indigo
Marimekko x Finnish Indigo Pre Fall 21

MARIMEKKO & NATURAL INDIGO

Marimekko has collaborated with Natural Indigo Finland in the use of natural indigo blue colouring originating from the Woad plant, cultivated in Finland. Part of the Autumn 2021 collection, the garments and bags are industrially printed at Marimekko’s Herttoniemi factory. These products show that fashion can be produced more locally, more sustainability and more transparently, important elements for building an understanding of what sustainable fashion will be in the future.

Materials: Cotton
Color: Woad Indigo
Technique: Industrial printing

Marimekko - Products of Tomorrow

Other Kinds Of Fashion

Through design creativity we can solve many problems in the fashion industry. Based on different kinds of fashion design approaches, we can take account the extended use phase, different body size, redesigning with old clothes, using natural dyes and creating sustainable beauty. Through these different design strategies, we can transform fashion culture towards one which is in better balance with the environment. 

Other Kinds of Fashion: Projects and exhibition in Designs for a Cooler Planet 2021
SofiaIlmonen_Juhu Huttunen

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