Designmuseo

My husband and I are enthusiastic fans of Finnish design, so this was a must on our trip to Helsinki. It’s not terribly big, but they do pack a lot of cool stuff into the space. The permanent exhibit has the evolution of the native designs from the 1800s to present; we marveled over how contemporary even the older things looked. The basement, when we were there, had a temporary exhibit on the works of Alvar Aalto, and I enjoyed getting to know him a bit better. We skipped the top floor, a fashion showcase, simply because neither of us were terribly interested. The gift shop has some nifty stuff, and it’s worth a look on the way out.

This museum is just ok. I liked seeing a few designs in the permanent collection, especially the Alvar Aalto stuff. However, I felt like the exhibits were not that impressively curated. I think I might have liked the museum better if there was a different exhibit going on the second floor. I’m not that much for 1980’s post-​modernism. It was interesting, but that aesthetic just doesn’t really float my boat. This museum is also a lot smaller than expected. We breezed through it really quickly. The building is deceptively huge from the outside. I thought the reception area’s interior design was more impressive than some of the actual exhibits I saw. Not sure this was worth the price of admission. We didn’t have much time to visit any of the other art museums in the city, so I really wish I would’ve picked one of the larger art museums to visit instead. My expectations were not really met here. Finnish design is quite famous, and as a designer I would have liked to see something a bit more extensive and impressive. I was expecting more of a variety of design. This place mainly focused on designed objects and painting when I was here. Where was all the graphic design? The bold fashion prints that Finland is famous for? Cool Scandinavian Interior design? I think there should have been a wider scope in the permanent collections. I think they also need a larger building. If your going to have a museum about Finnish design (something Finland is known for around the world), they should’ve done a much more entertaining and extensive job on the topic.

What a nice museum about design in Finland. It has a focus on design because it is a design museum. It’s also in Finland. Finland is a country that isn’t really in Scandinavia although some people think it is. The capital is Helsinki. This is in Helsinki.

Beautiful museum. We were fortunate enough to visit in December 2013, when there was no entrance fee charged!
There was a great exhibition on contemporary graphic design upstairs. It showed today’s movement in graphic design and posed numerous interesting questions on the topic.
On the ground floor we found the museums regular exhibition on Finnish design. Well displayed and explained.
In the basement there was an exhibition on jewelry. Not really our taste… But definitely «interesting»

nice ambiance, very good quick lunches, coffee and tea exquisite, as are the pastries and cakes

What a disappointment. Finland has a great history of innovative and classic design work, and Helsinki has some good design shops, but the Design Museum itself well, the work on display there was basically rubbish by students.
Most of the work there was ‘experimental’ style stuff, on a par with 18-​year-​old Foundation Art students in the UK– bad attempts at ‘shock value’ riddled with the idea that if art is confusing, then it has something to say.
There were a couple of specialist displays from known artists as well, but these were rather forgettable.
The only saving grace of the museum (and hence the 2 stars) was the permanent (I think) exhibition in the basement, which is a collection of clothes, furniture and other household items from the last 60 years or so of Finnish history, which tries to show the interesting ways in which Finnish culture has changed and been ‘Europeanised’ in recent times. On its own though I’m not sure the basement is worth the admission fee.
One you could miss.