Annual review looked back on the past year

Highlights of research and artistic activities, numerous projects and events. The school's annual review 11 March looked back on the most important achievements of the past year.

A large group of community members from the school's management, academic staff and service personnel gathered at the Aalto University event center Marsio.

"Our current practices are outstanding in many ways, and I’m pleased to say that we have achieved and even exceeded the goals set for last year. We have worked in a disciplined manner and this bears fruit", said Dean Tuomas Auvinen.

"Behind the numbers there is something much more important. People share values. Our community is deeply value-driven. We are committed to sustainability and renewing the society. Values matter more than ever. Our values are practical guides for how we research, teach and study."

The Dean thanked the whole community for the great work: the faculty, teachers, researchers and all of the staff, as well as the students, who bring their unique talent and critical questioning ns to our community.

The event also included awarding community members for outstanding work.

ARTS ANNUAL AWARDS 2026

ARTS ACT OF THE YEAR

ARTS Summer School

Funded by the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation, the ARTS Summer Schools provided a unique environment where students of architecture, design, film and media came together to learn, collaborate, and push the boundaries of their creativity. Across four summer school courses, students engaged with a wide range of ideas, concepts, and methods – from hands-on making to cutting-edge digital design and sustainable architecture and design practices. 

Faculty from 15 partner universities co-created the inspiring curriculums, and 69 teachers and 166 students from around the world brought their perspectives, skills, and passion to the summer schools, resulting in a dynamic and diverse showcase of projects.

The ARTS Act of the Year goes to each of the ARTS Summer Schools of 2022-2025. 

The ARTS Summer School 2022: Circular Economy and Co-design
Kirsi Niinimäki and Elif Öztekin

The ARTS Summer School 2023: Living with Wood(s)
Pekka Heikkinen and Matti Jänkälä 

The ARTS Summer School 2024: Embodied Water
Rauno Ronkainen and Rupesh Vyas

The ARTS Summer School 2025: Spatial Practices beyond New Construction
Hella Hernberg and Panu Savolainen

The overall coordination and production:
Jesse Brandelin and Iina Ekholm 

RESEARCH AWARD 

Johanna Lilius and Panu Savolainen

Assistant Professor Panu Savolainen and Senior Scientist Johanna Lilius are awarded the Research Award in recognition of the remarkable impact they have made in a short time at the Department of Architecture. Since becoming Heads of Research in September 2024, they have significantly strengthened the department’s research culture by launching regular meetings for researchers and doctoral candidates, improving communication, and raising the visibility of research within the school and beyond.

Drawing on interdisciplinary expertise and a strong record in securing research funding and producing high-impact work, they have introduced best practices that particularly support early-career scholars. Their commitment to inclusivity and mentorship exceeds institutional expectations and reflects a genuine passion for advancing both individual researchers and the community as a whole. Emphasizing creativity, shared success, and the joy of academic discovery, Savolainen and Lilius exemplify the meaningful and collaborative nature of research.

TEACHING AWARD

Tomi Lauri

Master of Fine Arts and Master of Arts, Tomi Lauri, is awarded the ARTS Teaching Award 2025. Tomi Lauri works at the Department of Film as a university lecturer in film and television production design. In addition, he serves as the programme director of the Bachelor’s Programme in Film.

As a teacher, Tomi Lauri is well liked and respected. He is professional, enthusiastic, deeply erudite, and unwaveringly loyal to both his students and his colleagues. Lauri combines a desire to develop in his own work with a commitment to advancing the Department of Film as a whole, sparing neither time nor effort. He is gentle by nature and has a good sense of humour. When needed, however, he is prepared to exercise firm leadership – for example when carrying through demanding processes such as the reform of the degree structure.

DISSERTATION AWARD

Tina Mariane Krogh Madsen

Tina Mariane Krogh Madsen's doctoral thesis The Intensity of Matter: The Inhuman Affects of Geological Performance is artistic research which approaches the practice of geological performances in sophisticated discussion with philosophical thinking. Madsen introduces the concepts "matter-as-collaborator" and "event-bodies" to move beyond human experience and shows how performance encounters can facilitate a meaningful relation towards awareness of environmental problems. 

Madsen's thesis proposes new ways of thinking. The work is ambitious and deeply engaged in both philosophy and artistic practice. Combining such contemporary domains as performance art, queer posthumanities, sound studies, affect theory, new materialism, geophilosophy, philosophy of difference, and environmental humanities the thesis is truly transdisciplinary research. 

DISSERTATION AWARD

Abdulah Qurashi

Abdullah Qurashi’s doctoral thesis, Mythological Migrations: Imagining Queer Muslim Utopias—Artistic and Curatorial Strategies of Collaboration, Collective Resistance, and Coalition-Building is a groundbreaking dissertation that reimagines the intellectual, artistic, and political possibilities of queer Muslim life in migratory contexts. The project disrupts western-centric narratives that position Islam and queer identities as fundamentally incompatible through rigorous engagement with feminist and queer intersectional scholarship.

The dissertation includes two artistic components that engage with the Islamophobia, racism, and exclusion faced by Arab and African LGBTIQA+ refugees. By integrating artistic practice, curatorial strategy, and critical theory, the work reimagines futures for collaborative, coalition-based forms of resistance and utopian world-making, making a vital and transformative contribution to contemporary art discourse and queer Muslim studies.

ENABLER AWARD

ARTS Finance Services Team

Despite the laborious and challenging project to renew the financial system, the ARTS finance team has carried out their duties professionally and have been able to support the academic staff promptly and kindly. 

Department leadership has had an adequate picture of the financial situation and confidence that matters are being handled, even though the finance team has clearly been under strain during the change process and while learning the new system. The team members have supported and helped each other which has fostered trust among academic staff.

ENABLER AWARD

ARTS Infra Team

The Success Enabler Award is granted to ARTS Infra, the technical services unit that makes our school’s teaching and research visible. Approximately 35 workshop masters, and an equal number of student assistants ensure that studios, workshops, and equipment are safe, functional, and accessible.

The unit’s strong contribution shows at every phase of learning, artistic practice, and research. The workshop masters teach, guide, troubleshoot, and build new capabilities across disciplines—from digital fabrication to sustainable material use. They support teachers and researchers with flexibility and a solution-oriented approach, even at the busiest times.

EDI & COMMUNITY BUILDING AWARD 

Namkyu Chun

University Lecturer Namkyu Chun is a bridge-builder between different cultures. In the shared position of heading the BA Design and Media programme, he has been bringing the departments of Art and Media and Design together under the task of teaching a young international cohort of students. Namkyu’s work also includes serving as a member of the EDI task force. Even more importantly, he is a colleague with a good eye for equality and a person who cares about others by raising critical issues for discussion.

EDI & COMMUNITY BUILDING AWARD

Daniel Schiechl

Daniel's contribution to the ARTS community goes far beyond any single role or title. Since joining Aalto, he has been a constant, reliable presence: first as TOKYO Chair, then in Advocacy and Education Policy, and continuing long after his time on the board as an invaluable support to every chair who has followed. What makes Daniel exceptional isn't just his presence, but how he shows up. He's deeply connected across students, faculty, and management, and he has built relationships that make real advocacy possible. In addition, Daniel has been proudly representing School of ARTS and its students in the Aalto University Student Union Representative Council, firstly as Pro Arte member and then as the vice-chair.

What stands out most is Daniel's ability to see both the immediate problem and the bigger picture at the same time. He brings sharp observations to complex issues without losing sight of what we are actually fighting for: a thriving, supported creative community at ARTS. 

His efficiency in getting things done is matched by his generosity as a mentor and friend. Current and former board members know they can count on Daniel not just for institutional knowledge, but for real guidance when navigating the challenges of student representation. In a volunteer community where people come and go, Daniel has been a steady presence, a connector, and someone who genuinely cares about what ARTS can become.

ARTISTIC ACTIVITY AWARD

Elina Koivisto and Maiju Suomi

The Award for Artistic Activity is presented to architects and doctoral researchers Elina Koivisto and Maiju Suomi for their outstanding work on the Alusta Pavilion. Originally located between the Museum of Finnish Architecture and the Design Museum in Helsinki, the pavilion has since been reinterpreted at the Otaniemi campus and is now being constructed in Tokyo.

Alusta explores nature–culture relations creating space for encounters between humans and non-human animals, and through its form and materiality, serves as a platform for environmental discourse. The pavilion combines a pollinator-friendly meadow with clay structures—using unfired and fired bricks as well as rammed earth—realised by a multidisciplinary team led by Suomi/Koivisto Architects.

The pavilion is part of Suomi’s practice-led doctoral research and also functions as a test bed for Koivisto’s research on natural construction materials. The project has earned international recognition, including the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale.

ALUM OF THE YEAR

Anna Brotkin

The alum of the year 2025 is Anna Brotkin.

Brotkin graduated with a Master’s degree in Film and Television Screenwriting from Aalto University in 2016. 

Before that, she studied speech communication, journalism, and creative writing at the University of Jyväskylä.

A seasoned professional writer, she has worked broadly not only as a film and TV screenwriter but also as a journalist, playwright, author, background researcher, and dramaturg. 

She rose to wide public recognition as the creator of the original idea and screenwriter of Aikuiset, the Golden Venla–award-winning TV series that became a phenomenon. 

Her latest TV series, Atlantis Pasila, which has just launched on Yle, has already won significant acclaim from critics and audiences alike. 

Brotkin has also contributed to numerous other TV dramas, including Jättekiva, Modernit miehet, Rehtori, and Rakkaat lapset. 

Her first feature-length film, Perhoset, was released in 2024. 

Her play Uuteen nousuun, co-written with Juho Mantere for Q-teatteri, also premiered in 2024 and returned to the repertoire this spring by popular demand.

Brotkin’s signature style is her portrayal of the absurdities of modern life—moments where empathetic view of people meets warm humor. 

Her everyday scenes feel instantly recognizable, and her dialogue is delightfully rich, lively and sparkling.

HONORARY DECORATIONS

The President of Finland has granted following decorations to Aalto University employees on the Finnish Independence Day, December 6^th, 2025. 

Knight of the Order of the White Rose of Finland  
Suomen Valkoisen Ruusun ritarimerkki (SVR R)

Lecturer Marja Rastas

Lecturer Marja Rastas is honored for her long-term, wide-ranging, and influential work in promoting art education and teacher training since 2006. Her contribution to the development of the field and teacher training has been significant. 

Knight First Class of the Order of the Lion of Finland
Suomen Leijonan I luokan ritarimerkki (SL R I)

Associate professor Laura Beloff

Professor Laura Beloff is an internationally recognized pioneer in bioart who has decades of experience at various European universities, and since 2019 as professor at Aalto ARTS. She is a highly regarded academic leader, whose large contributions serve not only her own research field but also the Department of Art and Media and the School of ARTS.

Knight First Class of the Order of the White Rose of Finland
Suomen Valkoisen Ruusun I luokan ritarimerkki (SVR R I)

Associate professor Harri Laakso

Professor Harri Laakso has significantly advanced artistic research and strengthened the role of photography as a critical discipline, contributing to Aalto University's rise in international recognition. Since 2004, he has supervised numerous theses, published extensively, curated exhibitions, and established major conferences while being celebrated for his collaborative leadership.

Knight First Class of the Order of the White Rose of Finland
Suomen Valkoisen Ruusun I luokan ritarimerkki (SVR R I)

Professor Jyrki Sinkkilä

Professor Jyrki Sinkkilä is an exceptional influencer and visionary in the field of Finnish landscape architecture who has played a key role in strengthening and reforming Finland's only landscape architecture degree program at Aalto University, inspiring several generations of students with his expert, in-depth, and comprehensive approach. In addition to his academic role, his influence can be seen in the outdoor spaces of public buildings and residential environments throughout the country.

Congratulations to all!