Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture

The School of Arts, Design and Architecture at Aalto University is an internationally renowned institution of higher education in the fields of art, art education, architecture, design, film, television and scenography, media, graphic design and photography. Cooperation and interaction between all the different disciplines of the school challenge technology-driven thinking and put greater emphasis on a human and user-centred approach to the creative process. The school’s commitment to enhancing cross-disciplinary dialogue is also visible in its artist-in-residence programme, which is, notably, the first of its kind in the Nordic countries. The Aalto AiR programme benefits from the Aalto University community as a whole as well as from its location in Helsinki, the World Design Capital of 2012. Helsinki is a thriving city of culture that is currently undergoing an energising phase of creative regeneration in which local forms of self-governed activism are in seamless dialogue with global-level debates, networks and institutions. The programme builds on active partnerships with multiple actors in the Helsinki cultural scene: art museums, galleries, artists' collectives, art promotion organisations and other residence programmes, such as the Helsinki International Artist Programme (HIAP). Now in its third year, the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture Artist-in-Residence Programme provides dedicated and internationally active artists with a unique opportunity to work with a truly collaborative community of researchers, students and staff and to avail themselves of Aalto University’s resources for artistic and creative productions for a longer period of time.