A student idea brought a karaoke booth to campus

Heya Kwon, how did the idea of building a karaoke booth on campus come about?

I was really surprised when I realised, after moving to Finland a couple of years ago, that karaoke is such a big thing here. I had thought it was only popular in Asia. A few Korean friends and I started planning a noraebang (norae 노래 means song, bang 방 means room) karaoke booth for the campus, and at the end of last year we received the university’s Sustainability Action Booster grant for the project. 

We also got other Aalto people involved: for example, the booth’s soundproofing is being built from mycelium panels and wood-fibre foam was developed at Aalto by Circular Foams. The mycelium panels were made together in participatory design workshops. 

We borrowed the karaoke equipment from Singa, a company founded by former Aalto students. What’s also really fun is that we were able to build this inside the structure of a sauna cabin. Thank you to my teammates Jin, Shawn, Harvey, Dain, and Harim!

What would you like to bring from Korean karaoke culture to Finland?

In Finland, people usually sing in bars, whereas in Korea karaoke tends to happen in private rooms, alone, with family, or with a couple of friends. In Finland, karaoke is often a public performance for others, and it takes courage to sing in front of an audience. In Korea, karaoke is less associated with alcohol compared, and there are many alcohol-free noraebangs for children to hang out with other kids. 

Our goal is to bring a kind of karaoke to campus where there is no pressure either to drink alcohol or to perform, so people can sing alone or with friends without the pressure of an audience. Any member of the Aalto community can book the booth for their own use. As far as we know, this is also the only noraebang-style karaoke booth in Finland.

What do you most like to sing yourself?

I like to rap! When I had to immigrate from Korea to the US as a child, it was noraebang that always connected me to Korean culture and reminded me of my roots. 

I’m also trying to improve my Finnish so that I can sing songs in Finnish. People have recommended songs by Juice Leskinen to me, at least, but I have no idea what the lyrics mean, so I still have to look up the lyrics!

• The karaoke booth is part of the Designs for a Cooler Planet exhibition. 
   

This article has been published in the Aalto University Magazine issue 38, September 2026.