A wealth of events at Aalto Festival gathered thousands of participants again

Over the two weeks, works by talents from Aalto University were showcased in over 60 events in different parts of the Helsinki metropolitan area. This spring the programme of Aalto Festival, organised for the second time, included an amazing selection of exhibitions, seminars and lectures in different fields, fashion shows, film screenings, and many other events.

The Designing Cellulose for the Future II exhibition, put together by two Aalto University schools and many collaboration partners, was opened on the first day of the festival. The seminar days gathered an audience interested in design and materials research to Media Centre Lume in Arabia. Diverse cellulose materials, new applications in the field of textiles, building and 3D printing as well as business ideas in the circular economy were among the many topics explored in the lectures. (Photo: Mikko Raskinen)

Aalto Global Impact had many events during the festival. On the first day of the festival public gathered to listen students' experiences, learning outcomes and project results to Kamppi, Laituri. Students travelled to Mexico, Lesvos and Uganda to solve challenging issues like water and sanitation related issues, refugee crisis and local economic development. (Photo: Taina Värri)

During the festival’s first week, Spring Steam 2016 gathered an audience interested in visual design to Kellohalli at Teurastamo. In this four-day event, the audience had an opportunity to participate in graphic design workshops, visit a spring sales, and see an exhibition put together by students of Visual Communication Design. The sunny weather attracted hundreds of daily visitors to Kellohalli at Teurastamo. (Photo: Ari Toivonen)

Satisfied course participants and keen listeners gathered to the School of Electrical Engineering for the final seminar of the Electrical Engineering Workshop. The project groups in spring 2016 had been encouraged to test their limits and set their goals high. Devices such as a Mars rover powered by solar panels, a smart mirror, a MIDI-controlled acoustic guitar, a cult robot from Star Wars, a ‘Mokamaster’ coffee maker, an aeroplane that utilises solar energy, a circuit board cutter and a vinyl record changer were built in the workshop. (Photo: Leena Ylä-Lyly)

Many innovative and surprising solutions to assignments from companies were presented in the final exhibition of the cross-disciplinary Product Development Project course on 22 May. Among the works introduced at the Design Factory were a practical device for reducing the alcohol content of wine in kitchens at home or in restaurants developed for the company Winemill as well as Valtra’s most recent tractor model for the bio-age, equipped with tanks required for using biogas. (Photo: Mikko Raskinen)

The annual spring fashion show held by the students majoring in Fashion filled the seats in the Merikaapelihalli hall at the Cable Factory. Bold and colourful creations were presented on the 100-meter-long catwalk in front of an audience of more than one thousand people. Before the show, the Tekstiili16 exhibition in the Turbiinisali room explained the processes of textile design to the audience. The exhibition, organised for the first time, showcased examples of the broad high-quality expertise in textile design at the School of Arts, Design and Architecture. (Photo: Mikko Raskinen, Eeva Suorlahti)

The festival ended in the three-day media art festival DASH’16 that brought live performances, installations, prototypes and discussions to Telakkaranta in Helsinki. The event was organised for the first time and it was produced by the master’s students of New Media at Aalto University. (Photo: Ari Toivonen)

Aalto Festival was also a visible part of the centre of Helsinki. The amusing festival landmark was set up at the Three Smiths Square next to Stockmann’s for two weeks. Students were out on city bikes handing out festival catalogues and guiding tourists and city residents exploring the university festival’s programme. (Photo: Mikko Raskinen)

Some of Aalto Festival’s events still continue although the festival period has ended. For example, the exhibition showcasing the best master’s theses at the Department of Architecture in Otaniemi will continue until the end of June and BOA, the thesis exhibition of the students of Design, is open for visitors until mid-June. Visit the festival website aaltofestival.fi for the opening hours and the exhibitions that are open in the summer.

 Aalto Festival was organised 16–31 May at several locations around Helsinki and Espoo. The talent of students, graduates and academic staff at Aalto University was showcased in over 60 events during the festival.