The Study Tour to Sweden and Finland visits furniture factories, showrooms, and museums that exhibit a combination of aesthetics and fabrication, and will inform your design process. You will see contemporary and historical architecture where furniture is an integral part of the interior design. The sites promote sensory experience, allowing you to develop critical observation skills through diagrammatic and representational analysis. Furthermore, the tour gives an impression of Scandinavian history, geography, and culture.
Throughout the tour, you will use your visual journal for documentation and analysis of furniture seen on tour. The manufacturing and design processes witnessed on tour will serve as points of inspiration for your semester project.
Tour Objectives
- Learn about methods of designing and manufacturing furniture
- Study contemporary and traditional Scandinavian design, interiors, and architecture
- Develop analytical sketching and visual note-taking skills for design purposes
Possible Activities
- Visit various furniture showrooms and exhibits such as A-factory, Artek, Aero Furniture Design, and Karl Andersson & Söner
- Tour furniture manufacturers, IKEA and Korhonen
- Study of the integration of furniture and architecture in Paimio Sanatorium, Hvitträsk, Aalto Studio, and Stadsbiblioteket