Our participatory practices include:
In Helsinki’s Kalasatama neighbourhood part of the construction costs is spent on art. The City of Helsinki selected our project together with three other proposals as part of this year’s artistic programme.
Heat Trace is a project combining light and community art, where we create artworks in Kalasatama together with local youth. We explore the environment of the former Hanasaari coal-fired power plant using thermal imaging. The thermal images will be used to create light artworks, which will be projected onto the facade of the old power plant building.
We are looking for young people aged 15–20 living in Helsinki to participate in the art workshops. The workshops are free of charge and do not require any prior information or expertise. The workshops will be organised in Finnish.
The project is funded by the City of Helsinki.
We are developing an alternative urban plan for the Mellunmäki neighbourhood together with the local resident movement.
The city has named Mellunmäki as an urban renewal area. The renewal is planned to build apartments for 2000-5500 new residents in the neighbourhood. However, new construction is planned in the place of local forests and the current waterway of Mellunkylänpuro.
The resident movement Mellunmäki-liike is going to develop its own alternative for the urban plan of the neighbourhood. The alternative urban plan will be drafted in collaboration with architectural practice Vokal. Local residents, organisations, and environmental NGOs are invited to join to support the alternative plan. The project is funded by Maj & Tor Nessling Foundation.
If you would like to join the future planning workshops or follow the development of the alternative urban plan, you can give us your contact details via this form
You can read more about the project via this link
The Mellunmäki alternative urban plan has been developed together with the local residents in six co-design workshops throughout 2026. As part of the design process we have utilised an urban planning game where the residents themselves are able to plan infill construction using wooden blocks.
Cité internationale des arts
We worked at the Cité Internationale des arts residency in Paris in the autumn of 2025.
The project studied the lived experience in the Parisian grands ensembles: postwar housing complexes built primarily during Les Trente Glorieuses (1945–1975) as symbols of progress and housing for all, later burdened by neglect and stigma.
Because these neighbourhoods occupy a sensitive place in public discourse, we adopted drawing as our primary method. Many residents prefer not to be photographed, while drawing offers a slow, public, and conversational approach that invites curiosity and exchange. Rather than fleeting images, it demands time and presence, treating these postwar complexes as monuments in their own right.
From September to December 2025, we visited over twenty grands ensembles around the Paris metropolitan area. Seeking sustained engagement with a single site, we chose Sarcelles, a northern suburb thirty minutes from central Paris on the regional train RER D. Built between 1954 and 1976, Sarcelles is one of France’s most emblematic grands ensembles.
The project culminated in a series of drawing workshops with local residents — immigrant women and young men — who were invited to share and express their own stories through drawing. The project was conducted in collaboration with local organisations Accueil & Culture and Compagnons Bâtisseurs. The workshops were made together with Iranian dramaturg Elaheh Nouri. The work was exhibited at the Cité Internationale des arts in December 2025. The project was funded by the Finnish Culture Fund and the Arts Promotion Centre Finland.
The project studied the lived experience in the Parisian grands ensembles: postwar housing complexes built primarily during Les Trente Glorieuses (1945–1975) as symbols of progress and housing for all, later burdened by neglect and stigma.
Because these neighbourhoods occupy a sensitive place in public discourse, we adopted drawing as our primary method. Many residents prefer not to be photographed, while drawing offers a slow, public, and conversational approach that invites curiosity and exchange. Rather than fleeting images, it demands time and presence, treating these postwar complexes as monuments in their own right.
From September to December 2025, we visited over twenty grands ensembles around the Paris metropolitan area. Seeking sustained engagement with a single site, we chose Sarcelles, a northern suburb thirty minutes from central Paris on the regional train RER D. Built between 1954 and 1976, Sarcelles is one of France’s most emblematic grands ensembles.
The project culminated in a series of drawing workshops with local residents — immigrant women and young men — who were invited to share and express their own stories through drawing. The project was conducted in collaboration with local organisations Accueil & Culture and Compagnons Bâtisseurs. The workshops were made together with Iranian dramaturg Elaheh Nouri. The work was exhibited at the Cité Internationale des arts in December 2025. The project was funded by the Finnish Culture Fund and the Arts Promotion Centre Finland.
According to cultural anthropologist Mary Douglas, “Dirt is matter out of place” (Purity and Danger, 1966). From the perspective of design, waste can simply be raw material in the wrong position or arrangement. We will explore this tension–and the concept of value–in the DIY chair workshop.
The project draws inspiration from photographer Michael Wolf’s Bastard Chairs series. Wolf studied the “vernacular craftsmanship” of Chinese metropolises, observing how city residents constructed functional seats for themselves by combining broken chair parts with waste materials such as bricks, scraps of wood, and crates.
The furniture created during the workshop will be showcased in an exhibition at the Malmin Nova shopping center from September 26 to October 16, 2026. The project is funded by the City of Helsinki. You can read more information about the workshop here
First piloted during the FCINY residency in New York, the Climate Game is an ongoing participatory method used to gather and share insights into community resilience in cities facing the impacts of climate change.
The residency culminated in a workshop where we presented findings from our exploration of community-based climate adaptation practices in New York City. Participants were invited to imagine ways of reshaping their own surroundings, drawing inspiration from community-led initiatives such as local organisations, community gardens, and places like Cooper Square, home to New York’s first community land trust.
In addition to participation work, we are involved in formal education. We have taught courses at the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Estonian Academy of Arts, and worked as visiting lecturers and reviewers at the Architectural Association (AA), ENSA Paris Est, Columbia University, Pratt Institute, and Penn State University.
Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture
During autumn 2026, we will be teaching on Aalto University’s Urban Planning Studio course, led by Professor Gianni Talamini. The course will focus on Espoo and engage with the citywide Espoo Master Plan 2060, which the municipality is currently preparing.
Taking a catchment-based approach to planning, teams work at tributary scales to integrate ecology and culture, achieving spatial justice in the process. Students will develop interventions that build on existing ecological and cultural structures.
The course enables students to develop alternative visions for a fairer Espoo, both socially and environmentally. The aim is to meet or challenge existing governmental goals by presenting context-sensitive arguments for sustainability.
AALTO ARTS SUMMER SCHOOL 2025
Spatial Practices Beyond New Construction
In 2025 we worked as part of the teaching staff of the Aalto ARTS Summer School lead by Hella Hernberg and professor Panu Savolainen. Our proposal Spatial Practices Beyond New Construction—initiated by Hella Hernberg—was selected as the theme of the course through an open call directed at all departments of the School of ARTS.
During the course the students occupied a vacant building on campus Maarintalo and envisioned new approaches to the site beyond new construction or demolition. The course culminated in a site specific exhibition at Maarintalo.
The international summer school hosted students and teaching staff from Aalto ARTS (FI), Politecnico di Milano (IT), Technológico de Monterrey (MX), National Institute of Design (IN), Singapore University of Technology and Design, SUTD (SG), University of Technology Delft (NL), The New School, Parsons School of Design (NY, US), and Central St. Martins UAL (UK).