“To design is to plan and to organize, to order, to relate and to control. In short it embraces all means of opposing disorder and accident. Therefore it signifies a human need and qualifies man’s thinking and doing.”
“To design is much more than simply to assemble, to order, or even to edit; it is to add value and meaning, to illuminate, to simplify, to clarify, to modify, to dignify, to dramatize, to persuade, and perhaps even to amuse. To design is to transform prose into poetry.”
“The essential function of our profession [design] in our society is to enhance and cultivate communications toward an easier understanding of ideas and complex problems, in the shortest possible time for higher visual and auditory retention of data.”
“For design is about the making of things: things that are memorable and have presence in the world of the mind. It makes demands upon our ability both to consolidate information as knowledge and to deploy it imaginatively to creative purpose in the pursuit of fresh information.”
We have never seen such a large collection of Industrial Design objects in a museum setting.
Established around 100 years ago, Die Neue Sammlung is considered the world’s oldest design museum – regarded as such long before the word design acquired this meaning in German. Since then,...
We were met by a wonderful tour guide, brought to the Museum especially to take care of her English-speaking visitors. Inge Sailor spent the better part of four hours showing us the museum, explaining the history, and then taking us to the Scheufelen headquarters where we were given some...
Our visit to see the Collection was considerably enhanced when asked if we might see the curator. What a delightful surprise to meet Horst Kaupp, Curator of the collection for all of 62 years! Through the helpful interpretor, Daniella Ispir, we were regaled with information and stories which...
There was a great sense of theatre in the BMW World center for vehicle delivery, and the bookstore had an interesting array of design and architeture books in addition to the expected volumes on cars.
The BMW Museum showcases the history of the BMW company, its...
We had the great good fortune to have a private tour of the design museum collections and archives.Susanne Graner, Director of Collections and Archives, and Andreas Nutz, Archivist, spent several hours with us as we peered into the unending spans of shelves containing what must be the worlds...
Alvar Aalto designed the building at Tiilimäki 20 in Munkkiniemi as his own office in 1955. Because of a number of large commissions, the office needed more space to work in. The building is only a short walk from Aalto's own house, where the office had previously been located. Studio Aalto is...
A visit to the Aalto House was a fitting introduction to our Design journey in Finland. We joined a small group for the complete tour, and enjoyed the shop, as well.
In 1934, Aino and Alvar Aalto acquired a site in almost completely untouched surroundings at Riihitie in Helsinki's...
While not a museum or archive, a shop in the design district of Helsinki proved as important a source of information as many of the large institutions.
Lokal, a new concept by photographer Katja Hagelstam, combines art, design and coffee in a relaxed home-like environment. The themed...
The Finnish Design Museum is a specialist museum that selects and maintains a design collection. The museum is responsible for research and documentation in its field, and for holding exhibitions on design history and contemporary products. The museum also organizes international exhibitions...
We met with two of the Archivists here, (Anna Autio and Tomi Arpalahti ) and were very impressed with the extent of their efforts to preserve information. The website mission describes it well:
“The fundamental task of the Museum of Finnish Architecture, one of Finland's national...