Otaniemi we have, the new school we will build!
2.12.2011
As all unions loaded with expectations, the brand new Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture will need a bit of history, heaps of good practices old and new as well as many, many dreams in order to succeed.
"The cooperation between art students and architects is to a great extent about involving art in the same discussion that is already going on from the perspectives of technology and economy," says Chairperson Kasper Mäki-Reinikka from Tokyo, the association of art students. He hopes that the new school will broadened our ideas about the role art, design and architecture play in society.
Helena Hyvönen, Dean of the School of Art and Design, believes that putting the new school together from units whose tasks under the Universities Act include artistic activity will result in better operating preconditions both inside the university and among stakeholders.
"The merger will make us strong and give us an opportunity to take part in societal debate more proactively. New operating models will release new energy", says Hyvönen.
"A number of new ways of working together with the fields of technology have already emerged in the School of Art and Design. A good example of this is the cooperation between media technology and MediaLab. The fields of motion picture and design also look forward to cooperation with architects."
"Otaniemi will no longer be a student village"
The new school has broken the ice in many respects. After the campus debate of last year, art students are redirecting their energies to Otaniemi, and they promise to bring along a change of culture.
"Yes, we did object to many issues for a year, and sometimes it is difficult to tell when people are talking about the campus and when they are talking about the new school. In other words, we did not object to the new school, but initially we were unwilling to move to Otaniemi", says Mäki-Reinikka.
"From a student's perspective, however, the debate on the merger has had a good feeling about it."
"The time of ifs and buts is over, and we are going to Otaniemi. A completely new town will be built there, preferably providing housing for others than just students alone. Otaniemi will quite simply stop being a student village," Mäki-Reinikka visualises.
What's in a name
The new name of the school, or rather its English version, the School of Arts and Creativity, was strongly criticised.
In such forums as Facebook chat rooms, the "Aalto University School of Shenanigans and Wizardry" was picked to pieces, and a decision was made to review the choice of the name.
"Personally I could have lived with the earlier choice, too, but I can understand why people were worried about being laughed at out in the world. In hindsight, I think we should have given the community more time and waited for feedback and criticism. The name was published too quickly," reflects Mäki-Reinikka, who was part of the jury.
" I think people picked on the name because it channelled the dissatisfaction that they felt about earlier decisions. The name is important. We must be able to change it if we want people to feel they can live with it," says Hyvönen, also a jury member, and continues:
"A decision like this cannot be cast in stone."
The architects are also happy about the decision to rethink the name. Antti Alhava, Head of the Department of Architecture, feels that changing the translations after the decisions had already been made was a sign of Aalto's human oriented values.
"Architecture involves planning, art, design, technology, humanism and skills – all of these!
The union with the School of Art and Design will strengthen the roots of our school in Nordic traditions of architecture and design."
Text: Eeva Pitkälä
On 28 November, the jury consisting of the management of Aalto University and the new school, experts, students and an alumni representative declared that the Finnish name of the school, Taiteiden ja suunnittelun korkeakoulu, would remain as decided earlier. The English version of the school's name will be Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, and the Swedish name Aalto-universitetets högskola för konst, design och arkitektur.
Read more:
Aalto University listened to the voice of the community – the English and Swedish names of the new school were reviewed (news, 28th November 2011)
