Helsinki Design Week celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, showcasing five enduring design principles that have shaped Finland's creative landscape from September 5-14. The milestone edition of the city's largest industry festival highlighted how Finnish architects and designers continue to channel time-honored values like utilitarianism and connection to nature for contemporary audiences.

The festival marked a significant moment for Finnish design with the conclusion of an 18-month international competition for Finland's new waterfront Museum of Architecture and Design, scheduled to open in 2030. Local studio JKMM Architects won the open, anonymous contest with their proposal for a recycled brick-clad museum aimed at "democratizing the tools of design." This focus on accessibility was echoed at Aalto University, where designers and chemists collaborated to create "Marvellous Materials," a cookbook encouraging children to use kitchen scraps and compost materials to make biodegradable glitter and orange-peel playdough, teaching sustainability from an early age.

Finland's celebrated connection to nature remained prominent throughout the festival, with the average Finnish citizen living just 700 meters from a forest. The "Designs for a Cooler Planet" exhibition at Aalto University showcased natural alternatives to carbon-intensive materials, including a protein-based underwater adhesive inspired by mussels and barnacles. Researchers combined DNA fragments from both sea creatures and cloned them into bacteria to produce protein molecules acting as natural glue, potentially useful for repairing coral reefs or healing human tissue injuries. Other innovations included building blocks made from 3D-printed yeast biomass and wood-based projects like Woamy biofoam and a cellulose pregnancy test by student Deborah Kumagai.

The theme of happiness through design took center stage in this year's main exhibition, "Designing Happiness," which explored architecture and design's role in individual and collective wellbeing. Curator Anniina Koivu questioned whether happiness could actually be designed, displaying objects ranging from Alvar Aalto's "welcoming" door handle that "every Finn has touched somewhere" to waterproof children's suits by Rukka and a group of 1963 Ball Chairs by Eero Aarnio arranged for visitors to listen to music together. Helsinki Design Week founder Kari Korkman emphasized designers' commitment to improving lives, asking his opening night audience: "Have you ever met a pessimistic designer?"

Craftsmanship returned to prominence through the festival's Open Studios series, where established and emerging designers revealed their creative processes. Minestrone Workshop, a one-year-old contemporary wood workshop, continued Finnish timber traditions from fresh perspectives. At the Habitare Protos exhibition, Kirsikka Heiskari displayed a modular glass chandelier modeled on melting candle wax, while Lennart Engels presented a geopolymer material developed using discarded sauna stones from Helsinki's public sweat rooms.

Respect for heritage manifested through collaborations between Finland's iconic brands, including furniture maker Artek's 90th anniversary celebration with textile brand Marimekko. Their first co-created furniture range featured updated versions of Aalto-designed pieces with wood, metal, glass, and stone inlays in recognizable Marimekko motifs. "We're very proud of our joint baby," joked Artek managing director Marianne Goebl. "It's a dialogue between two friends." The festival also honored late designer Yrjö Kukkapuro with the display of his final chair, the YK92 armchair designed for people with weaker legs, manufactured by Alestek based on unfinished designs left on his desk before his death in February.

The Collaboratorio architecture studio created a monumental "touch" pavilion at the Habitare furniture fair, anchored by elm tree stumps removed during National Museum of Finland extension work. The flooring combined fresh Finnish lichen with reclaimed Carrara marble fragments salvaged from the recent Finlandia Hall renovation, demonstrating the continued integration of natural materials in contemporary Finnish design. These five principles – democratic design, proximity to nature, happiness by design, emphasis on craft, and respect for heritage – continue to define Finnish creativity as the country's design community looks toward the future.