Spirit of Paimio Conference

21st October, 2025

Spirit of Paimio returns on 21 October, 2025 to explore the tension between two apparently irreconcilable forces – the desire to preserve and the need to renew.

Echoes of the Future considers how the Aaltos’ humane design ethos—attuned to nature, light, and care—might inform new responses to the challenges of today, at Paimio and beyond.

Bringing together architects, designers, thinkers and innovators, the conference asks how spatial practice can serve as a bridge between past and future, reconnecting disciplines and reimagining well-being in a time of profound collective transformation.

Spirit of Paimio 2025: Echoes of the Future will address the delicate relationship between heritage and innovation.

Nearly a century ago, Alvar and Aino Aalto’s Paimio Sanatorium was conceived as a bold experiment in an architecture of healing where tuberculosis patients were offered a form of “environmental therapy” in an era before antibiotics. The building itself became Alvar Aalto’s international breakthrough, a functionalist “total work of art” that pioneered design with empathy and humanity.

Today, this modernist masterpiece stands on the verge of a new era. No longer active as a hospital, it hungers for new ways to fulfil its original purpose as a place of rest, healing and encounter.

As the Paimio Sanatorium Foundation steers it towards the beginning of a new journey of becoming, the legacy of Paimio – its gentle, humane design ethos and integration with nature – resonates strongly as a guiding light for thinking more broadly about how well-being and serenity can be afforded through design.

Echoes of the Future asks how the visionary ideals embedded in this landmark can inform our collective path forward, inspiring new approaches in architecture and design while engaging broader cultural, societal, and ecological questions.

Echoing Alvar Aalto’s belief that “building art is a synthesis of life in materialised form… all in harmony together”, Echoes of the Future embraces and embodies a multiplicity of viewpoints on contemporary spatial practice.

Over the course of the conference, we will explore how design and architecture – at their best – unify diverse threads of human experience and knowledge. In the spirit of Paimio’s founders, who saw design as a means to address collective challenges, the conversation will bridge past and future, asking: What can we learn from the echoes of yesterday’s ideas to create a more compassionate, sustainable tomorrow?

By convening creative minds and changemakers in this historic setting, Spirit of Paimio Conference 2025 offers an inspiring forum to imagine new paradigms of living – a future where the wisdom of design heritage and the urgency of innovation come together to multiply one another.

Speakers

This year’s conference will feature high-profile speakers, moderators and panelists.

The lineup of keynote speakers handpicked for their expertise and innovative approach, includes the following names:

Kjetil Trædal Thorsen 
Architect, Professor, and Founding Partner of Snøhetta 
Kjetil Trædal Thorsen is an architect and co-founder of Snøhetta. Since its founding in 1989, he has been instrumental in defining Snøhetta’s philosophy and growth into a transdisciplinary and global practice.

Ilse Crawford 
Designer, Academic, and Founder of Studioilse
Ilse Crawford is a designer, academic, and creative director with a mission to put human experience at the center of design. As founder of Studioilse, together with her multidisciplinary London-based team, she brings this philosophy to life through interiors, products, and teaching.

Flavin Judd 
Artistic Director, Judd Foundation
Flavin Judd is the Artistic Director of the Judd Foundation, an organization dedicated to preserving and advancing the legacy of his father, Donald Judd. He is co-designer and co-editor of Donald Judd Writings (2016) and Donald Judd: 1957–1963: Paintings and Objects (2024). He has also designed architectural spaces in the United States and Europe. In his role as Artistic Director, he curates installations and oversees aesthetics for the Foundation.

Janne Sirén
 Peggy Pierce Elfvin Director, Buffalo AKG Art Museum
Dr. Janne Sirén is the Director of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum and a passionate advocate for the active role of museums and the arts in shaping and supporting diverse communities.

Guta Moura Guedes
 Founder of Experimenta and Lead of the Curarte Program
Guta Moura Guedes is a curator, cultural strategist, and thought leader whose work has profoundly shaped the international landscape of design, architecture, and contemporary culture for more than three decades. She co-founded Experimenta in Lisbon and has led projects exploring sustainability, cultural heritage, and urban transformation.

Odin Visser & Charles Gateau 
Designers and Founders of Studio LoopLoop
Odin Visser and Charles Gateau are the designers behind Studio LoopLoop, established to reinvent object production with sustainability at its core. They are also currently co-leading a new bachelor studio at the Design Academy Eindhoven, exploring design’s role in addressing today’s ecological and social challenges.

Moderators and panelists

Johanna Agerman Ross
Conran Foundation Chief Curator at the Design Museum in London, and the founder and director of design journal Disegno

Hanna Harris
Chief Design Officer, City of Helsinki

Samuli Woolston
Architect & Founding Partner, ALA Architects

Aaron Zeligs
Architect & Founding Partner, Evergreen Capital

Joseph Grima
Curator, Paimio Sanatorium Foundation

Mirkku Kullberg
CEO, Paimio Sanatorium Foundation

Program

9:00 – 9:30
Registration and Welcome Coffee

9:30 – 9:45
Opening Remarks
Welcome and Introduction to Echoes of the Future
Mirkku Kullberg, CEO, Paimio Sanatorium Foundation
Joseph Grima, Curator, Paimio Sanatorium Foundation

9:45 – 10:30
Talk: Flavin Judd
The Artistic Director of Judd Foundation
On the power and potential of legacy.

10:30 – 11:15
Talk: Janne Sirén
The Peggy Pierce Elfvin Director of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum
On building a destination and a global community in the arts.

11:15 – 11:45
Thoughts: The Universal Power of Art and Architecture
Flavin Judd and Janne Sirén in conversation
Moderated by Johanna Agerman Ross, Chief Curator of the Design Museum and the founder and director of design journal Disegno.

11:45 – 12:00
Coffee Break

12:00 – 12:45
Talk: Ilse Crawford
Designer and founder of Studioilse
On the emotional and sensory dimensions of design and its ability to shape spaces that nurture wellbeing.

12:45 – 13:30
In Dialogue: Claus Sendlinger with Mirkku Kullberg
Founder and former CEO of Design Hotels
On how design and wellbeing-driven hospitality can create communities and transform travel into a platform for creativity and connection.

13:30 – 14:30
Lunch Break

14:30 – 15:15
Talk: Odin Visser & Charles Gateau/Studio LoopLoop
The founders of Dutch design studio LoopLoop
On how advanced technologies, natural materials and craft processes converge in their work as designers

15:15 – 16:00
Talk: Guta Moura Guedes
Founder of Experimenta and lead of the Curarte program
On the future of culture and design as a means for nurturing wellbeing

16:00–16:30
Thoughts: Design as Taking Care
Studio LoopLoop, Guta Moura Guedes, Claus Sendlinger and Ilse Crawford in conversation. Moderated by Joseph Grima

16:30 – 17:00
Coffee Break

17:00 – 17:45
Lecture: Kjetil Trædal Thorsen
Founding Partner of Snøhetta
On the role of architecture in reconciling the needs of the present – and the future – with the gift of heritage and legacy.

17:45 – 18:15
Closing Thoughts: Architects as Servants of Society
With Kjetil Trædal Thorsen; Samuli Woolston, Architect (ALA Architects); Aaron Zeligs, Architect & Partner (Evergreen Capital); and Mirkku Kullberg
Moderated by Hanna Harris, Chief Design Officer, City of Helsinki

Tickets

Get your tickets now and join the most inspiring event of the year for creative minds.

Bus Transportation

Bus transportation between Helsinki and Paimio can be booked along with your conference tickets.

As seating is limited, we encourage you to book your spot early to secure your place. Follow the Get tickets link below.

Accommodation

Paimio Sanatorium has limited accommodation capacity.

We recommend staying in Turku, just under 30 minutes from Paimio Sanatorium, or in Helsinki, which is 1.5 hours away. For more information, please follow the tickets link below.