MATERIALS, LIFE-CYCLE AND SUSTAINABILITY – WHAT DO WE MEAN TALKING ABOUT THESE
On Monday 22 May 2023 at Paimio Sanatorium
The Paimio Sanatorium Discussions for Emerging New Worlds is a discussion series celebrating the 90thanniversary of the Paimio Sanatorium. The themes of the events derive from Alvar and Aino Aalto’s radical combination of architecture, nature and research which focuses on the wellbeing of the individual.
How we create and understand the world around us, what we value and consume and how businesses are evolving and need to evolve, are rapidly becoming the key focus of the transition to a sustainable future.
Industries and companies are awakening to the need to re-evaluate business models, supply chains, production models and locations. Among others, this raises questions of re-patriating production and its consequences, as well as the benefits and challenges of production at home versus production abroad.
To accommodate the world’s population and development will mean that building, producing furniture and other goods will not cease in the foreseeable future. What needs to change is our way of viewing materials as resources, our understanding of design requirements and how we integrate the potential for reuse, life-cycle thinking and collaboration between industries, to develop new solutions, applications, techniques and even materials.
The series begins with the Materials, Life-Cycle and Sustainability seminar on May 22, 2023, which examines material innovations, material circulation and insightful use, and the life-cycle of design objects, from the designer’s material choices to second-hand sales.
The first theme is material – the morning’s talks highlight existing buildings as a future asset (Tommi Lindh, Alvar Aalto Foundation), new innovative materials (Lari Vähäsalo, CH Bioforce) and today’s wooden architecture (Teemu Halme, Anttinen Oiva Arkkitehdit).
The panel discussion continues on the topics of the presentations and also includes the recyclability of concrete (Tero Niemelä, Skanska).
Hanna Nova Beatrice, the founder and creative director of The New Era magazine, will give a keynote speech on the media’s role as a promoter of sustainable design and way of thinking. In the afternoon, we will learn about the life cycle management of furniture and design objects from the point of view of the manufacturer (Antti Hirvonen, Vaarnii) and the retailer (Reetta Noukka, Finnish Design Shop & Franckly).
We are ready to ask questions and to search for answers.