To celebrate their 90th anniversaries, the Paimio Sanatorium Foundation and Grafia, the Association of Visual Communication Designers in Finland,  together with Finnish Design Shop and so_helsinki, organized a poster competition for visual communication professionals and students. The participants of the competition were invited to interpret Alvar and Aino Aalto’s vision of man’s relationship with his environment, architecture and design.

The Paimio sanatorium 90 – Human Perspective poster competition surprised the jury with high-quality and international entries. Totally 444 works from Finland and around the world participated in the competition.

The patron of the competition was Rafaela Seppälä. “We received very high-quality competition entries from around the world. This shows the continuing influence of Alvar and Aino Aalto as trendsetters in comprehensive well-being thinking. 90 years after the opening of the Paimio sanatorium, Aalto’s values and their color design are still relevant,” says Seppälä.

According to the chairman of the jury, Ilkka Kärkkäinen (so_helsinki), strong ideas that were professionally and carefully implemented stood out from the proposals. According to Kärkkäinen, the styles of the works that participated in the competition ranged from graphic minimalism to humor and from abstract to performing poster art. “The award-winning works represent a wide and high-quality spectrum of genres, of which a controlled and stylish typographic poster and a strong  abstract work were awarded the shared first place. The award-winning posters also included excellent works representing classic graphic design language, airy atmosphere and playful illustration.”
Entries are evaluated anonymously.

Winners

Shared 1st prize, 4000 €
Petri Henriksson “Aalto Variation I”
“My poster features organic shapes made from paper cutouts, letters and hand-painted lines that mimic the natural curves found in Aalto’s architecture and interiors. The poster aims to capture the essence of Aalto’s design, which emphasized a connection to nature and people, where the organic and imperfect play an important role.”

Shared 1st prize, 4000 €
Anna Meck “Holistic Healing”
“Healing light, healing air, healing nature. Design for the 90th anniversary of Paimio Sanatorium plays with the subjective perception of light. The poster is meant to represent light as a feeling and with that as an individual feeling of healing. The warmth and radiance – in terms of color based on the color concept of Aino Aalto – is based on the fundamental parameters of light, air and nature that form the design of Alvar Aalto. The emotional seeing is stimulated and the viewer feels warmth. 90 years ago as well as today: a timeless healing feeling.”

3rd prize, 2000 €
Rosa Aamunkoi “Take a seat”
“This poster celebrates the joyful details of color and shape found in the unique hospital environment.”

Honorary mentions:
Jolanda Jokinen “Shapes of Happiness” 
Linda Linko “Beyond Function” 
Tuukka Tujula “Raitis ilma” 

Human Perspective Poster Exhibition

Award-winning and honorable mention posters will be exhibited in the Human Perspectives poster exhibition at the Paimio Sanatorium in the summer season of 2023.
The poster exhibition opens on May 12. You can get to know the exhibition as part of a guided tour at the Paimio sanatorium.

In addition to the award-winning works, the exhibition will feature 24 posters chosen by the competition jury from the following designers: Mimosa Aronen, Samuel Cabiron, Andrea Chronopoulos, Reetta Costanzo, Rose Hallgren, Jussi Hellsten, Petri Henriksson, Marika Iivari, Pekka Jokinen, Jade Järvinen, Laura Kamppi, Anna Kesäniemi, Kärt Koosapoeg, Timo Kuoppala, Hanna Kääriäinen, Ilmari Lehtinen, Tommi Lehto, Linda Linko, Emilio Macchia, Laura Mustonen, Yoanna Rönnqvist, Eetu Saikkala, Ville Savimaa and Petra Zoubek.

The winning posters will be available for purchase in May at Paimio Sanatorium shop, as well as at Finnish Design Shop and at Artek store.

Jury
Chair of the Jury, Graphic Designer Ilkka Kärkkäinen, so_helsinki; AD Tuomas Jääskeläinen, Helsingin Sanomat; Founder, CEO Teemu Kiiski, Finnish Design Shop; Programme Director Anni Korkman, Helsinki Design Week; Architect Teemu Kurkela, JKMM Architects; Senior Designer Niina Sihto, Fyra; Communications Director Anna Vartiainen, Paimio Sanatorium Foundation and AD, Graphic Designer Marina Veziko.