Who Is An Expert in Buildings?
The finalists for Finland's new National Museum for Architecture and Design for published yesterday. In the competition, we broke ground in how to do co-creation in an anonymous competition.
Yesterday was an exciting day as the finalists for Finland’s largest cultural investment in a decade, the New Museum for Architecture and Design, were announced. The competition is carried out in two stages and the winner is announced during the fall.
This project is very close to my heart for three reasons. First, my whole path to working on innovation is grounded in the experience of working with human-centered design in Helsinki. Second, the project was initiated when I worked as Helsinki’s Executive Director for Culture and Leisure and I got to play a role in its early development. Third, and more importantly, I have had the fortune of working with the museum organization on how we can bring elements of co-creation to an anonymous and international competition, which is also a public procurement project.
Together with the museum’s team we designed an unprecedented process, which broadened the normal pool of experts from engineers, architects and economists to teachers, event organizers, police officers, skateboarders, accessibility advocates - and museum professionals. We also provided an equitable opportunity for all the teams, regardless of where in the world they live, to visit the museum site and receive consultation from world-class museum professionals on what is needed.
When leading these workshops earlier this year, I met educators, activists and experts feeling proud that they were consulted, putting an incredible amount of time in preparation and holding the highest standards of professional integrity and confidentiality. The experience convinced me that this is the way we build trust and enable innovation. As our the feedback from the architects demonstrates, successful co-creation supports designers in their vision rather than telling them how to do their job. It makes everyone feel appreciated, trusted and respected while opening room for learning and growth.
My interest in the last few years, including during my fellowship at Johns Hopkins University, has been on how can we foster innovation while building public legitimacy. I think the answer is found in disciplined processes and building government capacity for partnerships and engagement.
Read here a full description of our process, including why designing for children’s snacks and wet rucksacks, is critical for a great museum.
