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News
School as a Service has received its 7th award, and 2nd international award since its creation in 2015. The…
Identity of Space
2.9.2019
Identity of Space From Think Corner To think Buildings, Helsinki University Central Campus After having turned its administration building into Think Corner – an…
People-Driven City 2019
20.8.2019
This course is part of ‘Lähiöfest’ – a festival of neighbourhoods that aims to create discussion and catalyse new…
Art of Heat Exhibition
10.5.2019
Download the catalogue here The Art of Heat Exhibition is presenting the results from a multidisciplinary studio in the…
Teaching at USN continues
10.5.2019
It was in 2017 when the first edition of the course “Introduction in Architecture & Architectural Lightning Design” started…
Light and Space Academy
10.5.2019
Light and Space Academy at Group X started to collaborate with Leibniz Institute in Berlin, Germany. The main target…
STOA
8.3.2019
Students Think Otaniemi Architecture Stoa is the Greek term for a publicly-used outdoor, covered walkway where the public debate…
ARK-E2003 Building Design Studio 2A design course for max. 30 master level students 8.1.-9.4.2019Tuesdays at 13-17 Responsible teachersprof. Antti…
The book Challenging the City Scale: Journeys in People-Centred Design has just been published by Birkhäuser Verlag. Edited by…
The Exit School of Architecture exhibition will be shown at the 13th Tallinn Design Festival on September 10-16, 2018…
The final Human Cities_Challenging the City Scale 2014-2018 event will be held in Tallinn during the 13th Tallinn Design…
The Thinking Incubator in Otaniemi studio course will hold its Final Review next Tuesday 15.5 at 13:15 at Aalto…
The publication Human Cities_Challenging the City Scale 2014-2018 / Investigation has just been launched. Published by Cité du design…
Group X’s Professor Jarmo Suominen, together with artist Bao Xiying, have received with their artwork “Light of my life”…
We at Group X have just published the catalogue of the exhibition “Exit School of Architecture”, held in the…
Teaching throughout Otaniemi
7.12.2017
A new form of platform economy is revolutionising teaching at the Aalto University campus. The School as a Service…
Dietmar Eberle, Professor of Architecture and Design at ETH Zurich Department of Architecture and founding partner of Baumschlager Eberle…
WORKSHOP AT AALTO UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE November 24, 2017, 10:00-18:00 / Miestentie 3, room 127 INSTRUCTORS > Belinda…
Bilbao 15-18 November 2017 The travelling Human Cities exhibition in 2016-2018 presents the process and results of co-creating activities…
Workshop ‘Borders of Togetherness’ by Kune Office at Aalto University Department of Architecture
7.11.2017
WORKSHOP AT AALTO UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE November 10, 2017, 10:00-18:00 / Miestentie 3, room 127 > 10-12 Introduction…
Light & Space Academy holds a new course called “Introduction to Lighting Design” this Autumn Semester 2017 at the…
Find in the next link the summary of the past Human Cities Helsinki 2017 group of events held in…
Group X is collaborating again with the Professorship of Building Design (Prof. Pirjo Sanaksenaho) in the studio course on…
New Doctor in Architecture at Group X
29.8.2017
We are happy to announce that Group X member M.Sc.(Arch.) Julle Oksanen, one of the Light & Space Academy…
In September 2017 Group X representing Aalto University, Helsinki partner in the Human Cities network, welcomes the other partners…
Aalto University and MIT Media Lab wish to use Aalto University Otaniemi campus and its surroundings as a Living…
Group X will participate in the Sri Lanka Hambantota International Cultural Exchange Centre and Innovation Expo Action Plan Workshop,…
Human Cities Event / Ljubljana 23–27 May 2017 PUBLIC SPACES FOR LOCAL LIFE / Shared values in diversified urban…
Architecture Building Design Master Course exhibition presents projects, which are based on a real initiative and need for spaces…
Final Review for Studio Hong Kong: Diversifying Forms of Living with the Aalto University Department of Architecture presents the…
Group X’s postdoctoral researcher Fernando Nieto is the new innovation agent for Aalto ARTS in 2017. He will represent…
Human Cities_Challenging the City Scale/Saint-Étienne 2017 Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Étienne 9th March – 9th April 2017 After the launch…
Human Cities_Challenging the City Scale 2014-2018 March 13-14, 2017 Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Étienne 2017 Context The Cité du design,…
Belgrade Design Week welcomes its partners from eleven European cities to a unique international creative event “HUMAN CITIES/ SHARING…
The project School as a Service (SaaS), developed conceptually by Group X at Aalto University Department of Architecture in…
PhilaU – Aalto – UofO – Sustainable Luminaire & Lighting Design Competition 2016 The International Lighting Competition “InnoLight” has…
The studio course on Housing Design and Diversifying Forms of Living titled Superimposed Verticality will be presented tomorrow Wednesday…
Service Logic in Architecture course by Group X + Ellen van Loon (OMA) + Urban Suburban Finland NGO
26.10.2016
Service Logic in Architecture course welcomes students to design architectural solutions with a social, instrumental value for users, basing…
Group X’s member Janne Saario has been selected Next Generation Leader 2016 by the prestigious American Time Magazine. Janne…
Sino Finnish 100 Challenge is organized during 2017 in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangdong in co-operation with Finnish and Chinese…
Two seminars are served as the warm up events for two architectural exhibitions: “People’s Architecture: Architect HSIEH Ying-Chun and…
Welcome to Tongji-Aalto Postgraduate Seminar on Sustainable Design ——Service logic for shaping future living environment Date: 7th October 2016…
Group X’s members Fernando Nieto and Claudia Auer will take part as teachers in the Building Design studio course…
The project called School as a Service (SaaS), developed by Group X at Aalto University Department of Architecture and…
The architectural office of Group X leader Antti Ahlava, helsinkizurich Office Ltd, has recently been awarded twice internationally. The…
School as a Service interview
8.8.2016
A school of today and the future is more flexible and connected to the society. Old patterns of teaching…
The public sauna Löyly has just been opened in Hernesaari, Helsinki. The building has been designed by Avanto Architects,…
Ateljé Sotamaa, where our Group X’s member Kivi Sotamaa is one of the two principals, has just finished the…
Exhibition of student works in Dance House Helsinki studio course at Cable Factory Helsinki
27.5.2016
Next Thursday June 2nd, the exhibition with student works in the studio course Dance House Helsinki will be opened…
Final review Typological Hybridizations studio course as an event within Aalto Festival 2016
20.5.2016
Next Tuesday May 24th (09:00-14:00) we will hold the final review of the studio course at Master’s level Typological…
Aalto Festival 2016
12.5.2016
Aalto Festival is back again, showcasing the talents of Aalto University students, graduates and faculty. Aalto Festival 2016 will…
Kivi Sotamaa will take parte in the exhibition and symposium Archeology of the Digital. Complexity and Convention at the…
Atlas, lecture by Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos at the Department of Architecture Aalto University
22.4.2016
Fuensanta Nieto and Enrique Sobejano, from Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos and Alvar Aalto Medal 2015, will be lecturing at the…
Group X’s member Teemu Kurkela, from JKMM Architects, will be lecturing within the Contemporary Finnish Architecture lecture series. The…
Group X’s member Claudia Auer, from Auer & Sandås Architects, will be lecturing within the Contemporary Finnish Architecture lecture…
In the context of the Human Cities partners meeting, to be held in Milan on April 13th-15th, the exhibition…
Human Cities_Challenging the City Scale/Milano will host the Human Cities annual meeting involving more than 30 participants from the…
Looping Forward, lecture by estudio Herreros at the Department of Architecture Aalto University
10.1.2016
Next Thursday January 14th at 18:00, Juan Herreros & Jens Richter will be lecturing with the title…
Images courtesy of estudio Herreros Typological Hybridizations An Urban Mixed-Use Complex on Otaniemi Campus (Mountain Man Hybrid Block) A…
The seminar JOT-Flexible Learning Places on new learning environments based on the concept of JOT project (Joustavat Oppimisen Tilat),…
Next Monday the final review of the studio course “Interactive Dance House Helsinki” will be held in the old…
The Italian magazine on architecture and design Abitare includes in issue 550 an article on the housing system Atelier…
School as a Service Launch Event
16.11.2015
Today Group X and the Labs for Learners studio attended the launch event of the new school based on…
Group X will be present at the 7th Annual Symposium of Architectural Research in Finland ATUT 2015, to be held…
The City of Espoo has announced the project to create a new learning environment for schoolchildren in Otaniemi in…
The second Human Cities key activity, Recode the City Festival, will take place in London on September 21th to…
Human Cities co-creation briefings
14.9.2015
As a part of the Human Cities project all the partners will host a meeting and prepare an experimentation…
Group X’s member Kivi Sotamaa is lecturing at the College of Architecture and Planning, University of Colorado Denver, next…
Group X is taking part in the studio course Interactive Dance House Helsinki, a Building Design studio course at…
Labs for Learners, joint workshop + studio course Aalto University & Royal College of Art in London
2.6.2015
Group X and the Aalto University Department of Architecture will organize a summer workshop & studio in collaboration with…
Next Thursday May 28th, Fernando Nieto from Group X will be presenting the paper in coauthorship with Antti Ahlava…
Next Monday May 18th at 18.00 the exhibition Final Works – Architecture Exhibition will be opened in the ground…
Our Group X’s members Antti Ahlava and Kivi Sotamaa have been awarded with an honorable mention in the international…
The first Human Cities workshop will take place in Saint-Étienne on March 16th to 18th, and Group X is…
Group X
A focus group at Aalto University Department of Architecture
Group X has developed programmatic ways to approach current development-related subjects
in the field of design. The subjects are approached from an architect’s point of view.
We bring the architect’s way of operating to new fields of culture.
Themes
What we focus in doing
The culture of sharing –
Sustainable development
The culture of sharing is the key philosophy supporting the optimization of the use of premises and infill development. We are interested in the mechanisms and benefits of shared resources, shared technologies and shared spaces. The mechanisms for attaining the targets of sustainability are flexible and mixed use, temporal programming, life cycle thinking and the utilization of the Internet of things in this development. The culture of sharing results in a more social interaction and in a more effectively utilized infrastructure.
- The optimization of the use of premises and the increase of the utilization rate
- Infill development
- Shared resources and mixed use
- Life cycle thinking
Happy together –
Communicative planning
We want to enhance the co-creation of value through user–centred design and co–design in architectural projects, starting from the very beginnings of the projects and call this approach service architecture. The actual outcomes of this methodology are new types of places for social interaction, networked facilities and services, as well as turning spaces of movement and arrival creatively into new types of urban networks and nodes.
- User-centered design
- Codesign
- Value co-creation
- Service architecture
- Places for social interaction
- Property meeting points and shared resources
- Spaces of movement and arrival into active use
Learning as a key to everything –
Learning organizations and spaces
Opposing the normative assumption that architecture is about teaching the clients and user how to live, or teaching the architects how people want to live, we support the idea of learning. Architecture should be a place and an activity of collective construction of knowledge for both its creators and users, expanding our understanding of meaningful life and good relationships between the culture and nature. This paradigm shift produces spaces, which are adapted to learn and develop. We work on conceptual and parametric solutions, which support learning cityscapes and learning design and planning processes.
- Parametric solutions
Projects
Education
Outcomes
Art of Heat Exhibition Catalogue
Edited by: Andrea Esquivel Velázquez, Alejandro Campos Uribe, Antti Ahlava
Exhibition production: Andrea Esquivel Velázquez, Alejandro Campos Uribe
Professors: Antti Ahlava, Pirjo Hirvonen
Tutors: Laura Juslin, Lilli Maunula, Natalia Vladykina, Tiina Rytkönen. Visitors: Martti Kalliala, Anna-Mari Almila
Course organized by Group X with ARTS School Aalto University: Architecture + Interior Design + Fashion Design Departments, Shanghai International College of Fashion and Innovation SCF, Donghua University, Fashion brand Deepmoss
Challenging the City Scale: Journeys in People-Centred Design 2018
Human Cities final publication
Publisher: Birhäuser Verlag Basel
Editors: Cité du design Saint-Étienne, Clear Village London
Group X contributors: Antti Ahlava, Mia Hertsberg, Fernando Nieto, Saana Rossi, Jarmo Suominen, Natalia Vladykina
/// we contribute to the final publication of the Human Cities project with the Helsinki experimentation within the article “Sharing Spaces for Social Learning”
Exit School of Architecture at 13th Tallinn Design Festival 2018
Edited by Natalia Vladykina, Saana Rossi, Antti Ahlava, Fernando Nieto
Artistic and concept direction: Antti Ahlava, Fernando Nieto
Exhibition production: Saana Rossi, Natalia Vladykina
Exhibition and graphic design: Johanna Brummer
/// 13th Tallinn Design Festival showcases the Aalto Exit School of Architecture exhibition in the historic Baltic Station Departure Pavillion
Human Cities │ Tallinn 2018
Exhibition and participation in conference in Tallinn, Estonia
Participants: Antti Ahlava, Jarmo Suominen, Fernando Nieto, Natalia Vladykina, Saana Rossi
Aalto University, Helsinki
/// we contribute to the annual Human Cities partners meeting in Tallinn (Estonia), including our participation in the exhibition and conference at the 13th Tallinn Design Festival
Human Cities_Challenging the City Scale 2014-2018 / Investigation 2018
Cité du design Saint-Étienne, 2018
Group X contributors: Antti Ahlava, Mia Hertsberg, Fernando Nieto, Jarmo Suominen, Pekka Tynkkynen
/// we contribute to the State of the Art publication with the article “Happy together vs. melancholy of loneliness. Disruptive practices on community and privacy”
Human Cities │ Graz 2018
Exhibition and workshop in Graz, Austria
Participants: Antti Ahlava, Jarmo Suominen, Fernando Nieto, Natalia Vladykina, Saana Rossi
Aalto University, Helsinki
/// we contribute to the annual Human Cities partners meeting in Graz (Austria), including our participation in the exhibition and workshop
Human Cities │ Cieszyn 2018
Conference and workshop in Cieszyn, Poland
Participants: Antti Ahlava, Jarmo Suominen, Fernando Nieto, Natalia Vladykina, Saana Rossi
Aalto University, Helsinki
/// we contribute to the annual Human Cities partners meeting in Cieszyn (Poland), including our participation in the conference and workshop
Human Cities │ Bilbao 2017
Exhibition and workshop participation in Bilbao, Spain
Participants: Antti Ahlava, Jarmo Suominen, Fernando Nieto, Natalia Vladykina, Saana Rossi
Aalto University, Helsinki
/// we contribute to the annual Human Cities partners meeting in Bilbao (Spain), including our participation in the exhibition and workshops
Exit School of Architecture 2017
Edited by Natalia Vladykina, Saana Rossi, Antti Ahlava, Fernando NietoArtistic and concept direction: Antti Ahlava, Fernando Nieto
Exhibition production: Saana Rossi, Natalia Vladykina
Exhibition and graphic design: Johanna Brummer
/// we present 15 recently completed projects and 6 diploma works that abandon standardized ways of building to find more meaningful, individual solutions to design problems in contemporary cities and landscapes
Human Cities │ Helsinki 2017
Exhibition “Superimposed Verticality” at Department of Architecture, Otaniemi campus, Espoo
Content selection: Frances Hsu, Fernando Nieto
Exhibition design and organisation: HC Helsinki team (Antti Ahlava, Jarmo Suominen, Fernando Nieto, Natalia Vladykina, Saana Rossi)
Graphic design: Babi Brasileiro, Juho Heikkinen
Aalto University, Helsinki
/// we investigate strategies for new housing typologies that would make possible user-based flexible design solutions
Human Cities │ Helsinki 2017
Exhibition “Exit School of Architecture” in Dipoli, Otaniemi campus, Espoo
Content selection and organisation: HC Helsinki team (Antti Ahlava, Jarmo Suominen, Fernando Nieto, Natalia Vladykina, Saana Rossi)
Exhibition design: Johanna Brummer
Exhibition photography: Alisa Javits, Johanna Brummer
Aalto University, Helsinki
/// we propose a selection of new Finnish architecture rising from a shared local identity and analysing the role of collaboration in Nordic Noir architecture
Human Cities │ Helsinki 2017
Exhibition “Human Cities projects” in Dipoli, Otaniemi campus, Espoo
Content selection and organisation: HC Helsinki team (Antti Ahlava, Jarmo Suominen, Fernando Nieto, Natalia Vladykina, Saana Rossi)
Exhibition design: Johanna Brummer
Graphic design: Babi Brasileiro, Juho Heikkinen
Aalto University, Helsinki
/// we showcase the Human Cities projects throughout Europe made by the participating Human Cities network members
Human Cities │ Helsinki 2017
Workshop “School as a Service. Shared freetime activities” in Dipoli, Otaniemi campus, Espoo
Content selection and organisation: HC Helsinki team (Antti Ahlava, Jarmo Suominen, Fernando Nieto, Natalia Vladykina, Saana Rossi)
Service design: Leyla Nasib
Graphic design: Babi Brasileiro, Juho Heikkinen
Aalto University, Helsinki
/// we prototype school activities based on SaaS concept that could create and catalyse community discourse, togetherness and collaboration
CityScope Aalto 2017
Workshop within “City Science Lab @ Aalto” project with MIT Media Lab on Otaniemi campus, Espoo
Participants from Group X: Jarmo Suominen, Antti Ahlava, Anssi Joutsiniemi
Participants from MIT Media Lab: Ariel Noyman, Luis Alonso, Ryu Akatsuki
Partners: Aalto University, MIT Media Lab, City of Espoo, Aalto University Campus & Real Estate (ACRE)
Photo by Ariel Noyman
/// we contribute to the development and production of a model of Otaniemi campus based on the ideas and technology by MIT Media Lab’s CityScope tool
Human Cities │ Ljubljana 2017
Exhibition and workshop participation in Ljubljana, Slovenia
Participants: Antti Ahlava, Jarmo Suominen, Fernando Nieto, Natalia Vladykina, Saana Rossi
Aalto University, Helsinki
/// we contribute to the annual Human Cities partners meeting in Ljubljana (Slovenia), including our participation in the exhibition and workshops
Human Cities │ Kragujevac 2017
Exhibition and seminar participation within Belgrade Design Week in Kragujevac, Serbia
Participants: Antti Ahlava, Jarmo Suominen, Fernando Nieto, Pekka Tynkkynen, Saana Rossi
Aalto University, Helsinki
/// we contribute to the annual Human Cities partners meeting in Kragujevac (Serbia), including our participation in the exhibition and seminar
Service-Dominant Logic in the Spatial Design of a School 2016
Author: Natalia Vladykina
Supervisor: Jarmo Suominen
Department of Design
School of Arts, Design and Architecture
Aalto University
/// Natalia completes the first Master’s Thesis on Service Architecture
New Learning Environments 2016
Teachers: Lou Yongqi, Jarmo Suominen
Supporting teachers: Kristiina Erkkilä, Antti Ahlava, Fernando Nieto
Organizer: Tongji University, College of Design & Innovation, City of Shanghai
Supporting partners: Group X, Aalto University, Helsinki; Royal College of Arts, London (Service Design); Human Cities (EU program); City of Espoo
/// we inquire into the shift from teaching driven to learning oriented in a studio course on Service Architecture and Design in Shanghai
Human Cities │ Milan 2016
Workshop and exhibition in Politecnico di Milano
Participants: Antti Ahlava, Pekka Tynkkynen
Exhibition content: Antti Ahlava, Jarmo Suominen, Fernando Nieto, Mia Hertsberg
Students works: Joshua Page, Iulia-Elena Radion, Sophia Holl | Exhibition preparation: Pekka Tynkkynen, Fernando Nieto, Saana Rossi |
/// we contribute to the annual Human Cities partners meeting including our participation in the exhibition and seminar, where we present our projects School as a Service and Exit School of Architecture
JOT project 2015
Partners: Group X, Department of Architecture, Aalto University; City of Espoo
Project leaders: Jarmo Suominen, Kristiina Erkkilä
/// we develop the parameters defining new learning environments for School as a Service (SaaS) concept
Human Cities │ Helsinki 2015
Co-creation briefings in Helsinki
Participants: Alice Holmberg, Antti Ahlava, Jarmo Suominen, Fernando Nieto, Pekka Tynkkynen, Mia Hertsberg
/// a two-day journey based on co-creation at Design Factory and sailing alongside the Gulf of Finland
Human Cities │ London 2015
Participants: Antti Ahlava, Pekka Tynkkynen
/// recoding the city of London by transforming the urban realm and empowering people
Labs for Learners 2015
Master’s level workshop + studio course
Supervisors: Antti Ahlava, Jarmo Suominen, Fernando Nieto
/// workshops + studio course based on School as a Service (SaaS) concept
Human Cities │ Saint-Étienne 2015
Participant: Antti Ahlava
/// workshop Crossroads 2015, Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Étienne
Human Cities │ Saint-Étienne 2014
Participant: Pekka Tynkkynen
/// project launch event in Saint-Étienne
Team
ANTTI AHLAVA
Professor of
Emergent Design Methodologies
More about Antti
JARMO SUOMINEN
Adjunct Professor of
Service Architecture
More about Jarmo
TEEMU KURKELA
Adjunct Professor of
Wellbeing Architecture
More about Teemu
ANSSI JOUTSINIEMI
Adjunct Professor of Emergent Design Methodologies
More about Anssi
JULLE OKSANEN
Light & Space Academy
More about Julle
HANNU TIKKA
Light & Space Academy
More about Hannu
ALEJANDRO CAMPOS
Former Postdoctoral Researcher
More about Alejandro
NATALIA VLADYKINA
Project Manager and PhD Candidate
More about Natalia
CLAUDIA AUER
Lecturer and PhD Candidate
More about Claudia
FERNANDO NIETO
Former Postdoctoral Researcher
More about Fernando
ANDREA ESQUIVEL
Student Assistant
More about Andrea
OTHER MEMBERS
Former Group X's contributors
More about past members
Sanna Iltanen, PhD Candidate.
Álvaro de Oliveira, Visiting Professor of Service Architecture Kivi Sotamaa, Founder and Artistic Director of ADD Aalto University Digital Design Laboratory.
Daishi Sakaguchi, Visiting Researcher.
Pekka Tynkkynen, PhD Candidate.
Janne Saario, Course Tutor.
Kristian Forsberg, Course Tutor.
Ossi Konttinen, Course Tutor.
Lilli Maunula, Course Tutor.
Mia Hertsberg, Student Assistant
Network
Aalto University
Business partners
Contact
Where & how to find us
Group X
Postal address:
Department of Architecture
School of Arts, Design and Architecture
PO Box 31000
FI-00076 Aalto
Visiting address:
Otaniementie 14
02150 Espoo
Finland
info[at]groupxaalto[dot]fi