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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, Exhibitions, Fashion Design, Teaching
Art of Heat Exhibition
Education, Emergent Design Methodologies, Light & Space, Research, Teaching
Teaching at USN
Building Design, Education, Emergent Design Methodologies, Teaching
Architecture and Design Museum
Education, Emergent Design Methodologies, Fashion Design, Interior Design, Teaching
The Art of Heat
Building Design, Emergent Design Methodologies, Exhibitions, Research
Exit School of Architecture
Building Design, Education, Emergent Design Methodologies, Teaching
Thinking Incubator in Otaniemi
Education, Emergent Design Methodologies, Teaching
DM in AU
Emergent Design Methodologies, Research, Service Architecture, Teaching
City Science Lab @ Aalto
Education, Emergent Design Methodologies, Light & Space, Research, Teaching
Light & Space Academy
Education, Emergent Design Methodologies, Housing Design, Teaching
Superimposed Verticality
Education, Service Architecture, Teaching
Service Logic in Architecture
Education, Service Architecture, Teaching
New Learning Environments
Building Design, Education, Emergent Design Methodologies, Teaching
Typological Hybridizations
Research, Service Architecture
School as a Service
Building Design, Education, Service Architecture, Teaching
Labs for Learners studio course
Building Design, Education, Service Architecture, Teaching
Labs for Learners summer workshop
Emergent Design Methodologies, Exhibitions
Aalto Festival 2015
Emergent Design Methodologies, Research, Service Architecture
Human Cities
Education, Emergent Design Methodologies, Teaching
The Design of the Future
Other
Other

Education

Building Design, Education, Teaching, Wellbeing Architecture
Identity of Space, Building Design Studio 2, Autumn 2019
Education, Teaching, Urban Studies & Planning, Wellbeing Architecture
People-Driven City 2019
Education, Exhibitions, Fashion Design, Teaching
Art of Heat Exhibition
Education, Emergent Design Methodologies, Light & Space, Research, Teaching
Teaching at USN
Education, Light & Space, Teaching
Light and Space Academy
Building Design, Education, Emergent Design Methodologies, Teaching
Architecture and Design Museum
Building Design, Education, Teaching
New School in Puotila
Education, Emergent Design Methodologies, Fashion Design, Interior Design, Teaching
The Art of Heat
Building Design, Education, Emergent Design Methodologies, Teaching
Thinking Incubator in Otaniemi
Education, Emergent Design Methodologies, Teaching
DM in AU
Building Design, Education, Teaching, Wellbeing Architecture
Urban Villages – Xixi Studio
Education, Teaching, Urban Studies & Planning
USP Urban Challenge Studio 1
Building Design, Education, Teaching
Psychiatric Hospital in Laakso
Building Design, Education, Teaching, Wellbeing Architecture
Urban Villages – Lanxi Studio
Education, Emergent Design Methodologies, Light & Space, Research, Teaching
Light & Space Academy
Education, Emergent Design Methodologies, Housing Design, Teaching
Superimposed Verticality
Education, Service Architecture, Teaching
Service Logic in Architecture
Building Design, Education, Teaching
Future Media Center
Education, Service Architecture, Teaching
New Learning Environments
Building Design, Education, Emergent Design Methodologies, Teaching
Typological Hybridizations
Building Design, Education, Service Architecture, Teaching
Labs for Learners studio course
Building Design, Education, Teaching
Interactive Dance House Helsinki
Building Design, Education, Service Architecture, Teaching
Labs for Learners summer workshop
Education, Emergent Design Methodologies, Teaching
The Design of the Future

Outcomes

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
    Exhibition
    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
    State of the Art publication
    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
    Exhibition catalogue
    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








    /// 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
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
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
Service-Dominant Logic in the Spatial Design of a School 2016
    Master’s Thesis
    Author: Natalia Vladykina
    Supervisor: Jarmo Suominen
    Department of Design
    School of Arts, Design and Architecture
    Aalto University







    master's thesis_natalia vladykina

    /// Natalia completes the first Master’s Thesis on Service Architecture
New Learning Environments 2016
    Environmental Design Studio 1
    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






    saas shanghai

    /// 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 | Exhibition catalogue

    hc milan exhibition

    /// 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
    Flexible Learning Places
    Partners: Group X, Department of Architecture, Aalto University; City of Espoo
    Project leaders: Jarmo Suominen, Kristiina Erkkilä

    SaaS

    /// 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





    sailing

    /// a two-day journey based on co-creation at Design Factory and sailing alongside the Gulf of Finland
Human Cities │ London 2015
    Workshop in London
    Participants: Antti Ahlava, Pekka Tynkkynen









    london

    /// 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

    l4l-diagram-2-2

    /// workshops + studio course based on School as a Service (SaaS) concept
Human Cities │ Saint-Étienne 2015
    Workshop in Saint-Étienne
    Participant: Antti Ahlava


    saint-étienne

    /// workshop Crossroads 2015, Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Étienne
Human Cities │ Saint-Étienne 2014

Team

ANTTI AHLAVA

Professor of
Emergent Design Methodologies

More about Antti
Antti Ahlava’s task is to develop architectural design and planning methods, including interdisciplinary activities. He is the director of Group X. Ahlava has been teaching urban design at Aalto University and has been a Visiting Professor in Architectural Design at Århus School of Architecture, Royal Art Academy in Copenhagen and TU Vienna, and collaborated also with the architecture schools of UCLA, MIT, Columbia, Yale, Keio and Tokio. He was recently a Visiting Fellow at Harvard Graduate School of Design. His work has been featured in several architectural exhibitions. Ahlava has been a jury member in several international architectural competitions in Estonia and Finland and has been a member of specialist boards in Tallinn, Estonia and Eskilstuna, Sweden. Ahlava is also an architect and partner at the prizewinning Helsinki Zürich Office Ltd (helsinkizurich), located in Helsinki, Finland and Zürich, Switzerland.

Profile at Aalto University
helsinkizurich

JARMO SUOMINEN

Adjunct Professor of
Service Architecture

More about Jarmo
Jarmo Suominen scrutinizes service-based logic in architecture in relation to users, value creation, experiences and urban ecosystems.

Profile at Aalto University
Profile at MIT

TEEMU KURKELA

Adjunct Professor of
Wellbeing Architecture

More about Teemu
Teemu Kurkela contributes to SOTERA research group at the Department of Architecture. His work scrutinizes architecture in relation to the business models for services, hospitality, logistics and acquisitions, interior design, industrial design and landscaping within the field of wellbeing architecture, especially related to the development of hospitals.

JKMM Architects

ANSSI JOUTSINIEMI

Adjunct Professor of
Emergent Design Methodologies

More about Anssi
Anssi Joutsiniemi is Adjunct Professor at the Aalto University. His research interests are centered on issues of complex system approaches in urban planning and his work include topics of urban modelling, morphological analyses and rule-based planning. His expertise is in GIS and computational methods in urban planning and design and his more recent research interests are in distributed urban modelling and simulation and algorithmic problem solving in a design process. Joutsiniemi also works as Associate Professor in Tampere University of Technology and holds Adjunct Associate Professorship in Curtin University, Australia. He is the head of the Urban Studies and Planning Master’s Programme at Aalto University.

Profile at Aalto University

JULLE OKSANEN

Light & Space
Academy

More about Julle
Julle Oksanen is a lighting and luminaire designer in his company Julle Oksanen Lighting Design Ltd. He has a PhD. in Architecture, D.Sc.(Arch.) by Aalto University, Department of Architecture with a dissertation on “Design concepts in architectural outdoor lighting design based on metaphors as a heuristic tool”. He has a Master of Science in Landscape Architecture from the University of Tennessee, College of Architecture and Design, and PE (Electrical Engineering) from Helsinki Technical College. Julle is a Researcher on Architecture & Light in Group X. He has been Professor & Lecturer in China, Norway, UK & USA at the University of Oregon, Cornell University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Julle Oksanen’s and Hannu Tikka’s ‘Light & Space Academy’ arranges travelling educational activities in the USA, Asia and Europe.
Contact information: +358 – 50 – 5644724 & julle.oksanen@jold.net

Julle Oksanen Lighting Ltd.

HANNU TIKKA

Light & Space
Academy

More about Hannu
Hannu Tikka is the co-director of Group X’s ‘Light and Space Academy’, together with Julle Oksanen. Hannu is a successful building and urban designer and have taught architecture at the Departments of Architecture in Aalto University and Tampere University of Technology. Hannu has been a Visiting Professor at Cornell University.
‘Light & Space Academy’ arranges travelling educational activities in the USA, Asia and Europe.

APRT Architects

ALEJANDRO CAMPOS

Postdoctoral Researcher of Emergent Design Methodologies

More about Alejandro
Alejandro Campos is an architect (ETSA Valencia, 2013 + TU Eindhoven, 2010), and International Doctor in Architecture, Building, Urban Planning and Landscape (ETSA Valencia, 2018). He is an awarded architect and researcher. His research focus is on the intersection between architecture and everyday life, and his PhD is an exercise of Architectural Anthropology through the analysis of Aldo van Eyck’s own house in Loenen aan de Vecht. Since 2018 he is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Group X at Aalto University Department of Architecture in Helsinki. Profile at Aalto University

NATALIA VLADYKINA

Project Manager and PhD Candidate

More about Natalia
Natalia’s interests are service-oriented architecture and user experience in the space. She is a teacher in Art of Heat studio for architecture and interior design students.

CLAUDIA AUER

Lecturer and PhD Candidate

More about Claudia
Claudia Auer studied architecture at Graz University of Technology (Ba arc) and at Helsinki University of Technology. (M. Sc.). She is teacher and coordinator of the Public Building Studio at Aalto University School of Architecture, Art and Design. Since 2014 she is a PhD Candidate and holds a research position at the chair of Building Design at Aalto University. Her work focus is on practice related and artistic research in architecture, on creative practices in public building processes and on learning environments. As practicing architect she has been working on pilot projects for sustainable and energy efficient architecture in Finland and has planned buildings and interiors for the schools of architecture at Oulu University and Aalto University. She is architect and partner in the Helsinki based office Auer & Sandås architects Ltd. Her work as architect has won several awards and has been exhibited internationally. She has also been jury member in several architectural competitions. Auer & Sandås architects

FERNANDO NIETO

Former Postdoctoral Researcher

More about Fernando
Fernando Nieto is an architect (ETSA Valladolid, 2004), Master of Advanced Studies in Collective Housing (ETSA Madrid, 2006) and International Doctor of Architecture in Advanced Architectural Design (ETSA Madrid, 2014). From 2014-2018 he was a Postdoctoral Researcher at Group X at Aalto University Department of Architecture in Helsinki

ANDREA ESQUIVEL

Student Assistant

More about Andrea
Andrea Esquivel is a student of Architecture in the Creative Sustainability Programme. She is finishing her MSc’s studies at Aalto University. She studied her bachelor at Tec de Monterrey, México.

OTHER MEMBERS

Former Group X's contributors

More about past members
Saana Rossi, Student Assistant.
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

Yongqi Lou

louyongqi


Tongji University College of Design and Innovation
Shanghai CHINA

Kent Larson

kentlarson




MIT Media Lab
Cambridge USA

estudio Herreros

estudioHerreros

ETSAM
Madrid SPAIN
Columbia University
GSAPP
New York USA

Stephen Heppell

stephenheppell

Anglia Ruskin University ENGLAND
Bournemouth University ENGLAND
UCJC Madrid SPAIN

Dan Phillips

danphillips




Royal College of Art London ENGLAND

Kirsti Lonka

kirstilonka


University of Helsinki
Helsinki FINLAND

Kristiina Erkkilä

kristiinaerkkilä


City of Espoo
Espoo FINLAND

Tuula Antola

tuulaantola

Espoo Innovation Garden
Espoo FINLAND

Weijen Wang

weijenwang

The University of Hong Kong (HKU)
Hong Kong

Wang Lu

wanglu


Tsinghua University Beijing CHINA

Aalto University

Research partners

Business partners

Contact

Where & how to find us

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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