Interplay of cultures – Education in Global Sustainability

Our planet and living environment are facing irreversible changes due to megatrends such as globalization, climate change and urbanization. Thoughtful planning of cities can play a key role in preventing and alleviating many problems. Architects should therefore receive proper training to tackle the complex challenges of the future.

Interplay of Cultures exhibition celebrates the 25th anniversary of education in global sustainability and humanitarian development at Aalto University, while also raising concern regarding the current state of world affairs. Hundreds of architecture, engineer, design and business students have worked together to seek answers to wicked global challenges over the past 25 years through Aalto World in Transition Research LAB (Aalto Wit LAB) research network. 

The exhibition presents a selection of the students’ past projects – including a few realized plans – and revisits their journeys into new cultures. The presented examples show that global problems are forcing young architects to tackle ever more complex design challenges. The show also highlights their professional evolution into experts whose work is driven by a code of morals and ethical responsibility. For many of the young participants, working as a member of a multidisciplinary team in a foreign culture has been an important turning point in their careers. 

The multidisciplinary courses help the students acquire valuable professional expertise such as skills in teamwork, project management, communications and community interaction. The ability to weave together architectural expertise, design know-how and competence in business and engineering into a realizable plan is a skill that will grow ever more vital in the work of future planners. 

The exhibition highlights the challenges and opportunities of university education in today’s globalizing world. The focus of development aid is shifting from top-down government involvement to grass-roots initiatives, opening doors to active participation by small-scale operators in the field of global sustainability and humanitarian development. By the same token, global challenges are alarming in their sheer scale, calling for cross-disciplinary teamwork across a variety of different fields. Here, universities have adopted an active role as bridge-builders between various stakeholders. 

The exhibition was first organized at the Museum of Finnish Architecture in 2018. 

Team: 

• Saija Hollmén, Matleena Muhonen
• Exhibition design: Maiju Suomi

Contact: 

Saija Hollmén, [email protected], tel. +358 40 587 9808 

Exhibition catalogueWiT LAB