The new school to be called Aalto University School of Arts and Creativity: A name that reflects the common denominators
08.11.2011
The new school formed by the current Aalto University School of Art and Design and the Department of Architecture at the School of Engineering will begin to operate on the 1st of January 2012.
Its name will be the Aalto University School of Arts and Creativity.
The new School of Arts and Creativity will be a school of design, media, architecture and arts bringing together areas that focus on designing and implementing human-oriented environments. The basic philosophy of the school will be close to a humanist world view, which will be reflected in the human-centred and user-oriented nature of its research, teaching and other activities.
The English name of the new school was selected to reflect this humanist world view. The Swedish name of the school, on the other hand, will be Högskolan för konst och kreativitet vid Aalto-universitetet. The translations differ slightly from the Finnish version of the name – Aalto-yliopiston taiteiden ja suunnittelun korkeakoulu - as the concept ’art and design’ in the current name has strong associations with the past. As they stand, both names convey the idea of change more powerfully than direct translations.
”All the versions of the new school's names are new, thus describing the change brought about by the amalgamation and the multi-disciplinary nature of Aalto University. Art combined with design and creativity is an apt description of the activities and perspective of the new school. These are the common denominators to all aspects of the new school”, Dean Helena Hyvönen from the School of Art and Design justifies the choice.
In the future, the new school will produce specialists and innovators of design, arts and architecture with not only strong artistic skills but also competence in user-driven design.
”For these professionals of the future and developers of our built environment, links with construction technology will play a key role. The term ‘design’ in the school’s Finnish name embraces an important link with all fields of Aalto University – technology as well as economics”, explains Antti Ahlava, Head of the Department of Architecture.
The name for the new school was sought in a competition that was open to the entire Aalto community, including stakeholders and the general public. Almost 800 suggestions were received, reflecting not only a lively interest in the matter but also the communal way of operating that is typical of Aalto University. The final choice was made by a jury consisting of the management, experts and students of Aalto University and the new school, as well as an alumni representative.
From the beginning of next year, the School of Arts and Creativity will be a community of some 2,100 degree students, 300 post-graduate students and 500 personnel members. Also in the future, the students of the school will be able to complete a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science degree as well as a Master of Arts degree or a Master of Science degree in Architecture or Landscape Architecture. The new university will offer 12 study programmes in Finnish leading to a Bachelor’s degree, and 23 Master’s degree programmes and Doctorate programmes in English, in the fields of art, design and engineering. The departments of the school will continue to operate at their current facilities at Arabianranta in Helsinki and Otaniemi in Espoo until the new premises needed by the school are completed at Aalto University’s shared campus in Otaniemi. This is estimated to take place in 2015.
For further information please contact:
Dean Helena Hyvönen, tel. +358 50 324 3657
Head of Department of Architecture Antti Ahlava, tel. +358 50 324 1179
Communications Manager Anne Tapanainen, tel. +358 50 5319180
E-mail addresses are in the format firstname.lastname [at] aalto [dot] fi