Announcing the future World Design Capital 2012 - the vibrant city of Helsinki, capital of Finland. A place where design is embedded into the open city design and concept.  Look forward to a great programme.

Helsinki, the Capital of Finland, is right in the middle of the Baltic Sea region, with easy access to East and West, and fast access to other European Union countries.

Open Helsinki – Embedding Design in Life
In Helsinki, design is the enabler of building an open city, the booster of its social, economic and cultural development. This concept of Embedded Design ties design to innovation from its very beginning. Design oversees the realisation of the inhabitants’ needs and, in the final stages, ensures that the solution is desirable. This is how inventions, technologies and systems are developed into innovations suitable for everyday use.

Helsinki Design is also part of world design – it is created together with the international design community and the people of the world. Helsinki Design includes well-known global brands, such as Nokia, Kone and Marimekko, popular events, like the annual Helsinki Design Week, first class education and research institutions, such as University of Art and Design Helsinki, and strong traditions, for example architects and designers Eliel Saarinen and Alvar Aalto.

For more information on WDC Helsinki 2012:

• www.wdc2012helsinki.fi


• Press release: City of Helsinki appointed World Design Capital 2012

Seoul was the former World Design Capital 2010.