From Crafts to Smart and Sustainable Design

Pirjo Seddiki & Mirja Niemelä

The history of design education at Häme University of Applied Sciences (HAMK) is an illustrative example of the development from a crafts school to a design university. Founded in 1885 in Hämeenlinna by Fredrika Wetterhoff, the School of Crafts, later renamed Fredrika Wetterhoff Artisanal Teacher Training College, became Wetterhoff Institute of Crafts and Design during the 1990s. In the early days, the main education goals stressed the development of the cottage industry and, especially, giving women a possibility to earn their own living. The values in the beginning of the school included equality of education, internationality, technical progress and high quality of products.

The first students in the weaving classes were young girls who had been released from prison while the first staff members had an international background. New weaving technology and tools were developed and the resulting products won awards in world exhibitions. The graduated students taught not only in Finland but also in other countries (Laitila, 2015, 68–85.)

Today, HAMK provides design education in the Degree Programme in Smart and Sustainable Design (Bachelor of Culture and Arts, BCA) as part of the School of Entrepreneurship and Business. This education is available both in Finnish and in English for international students. (Älykäs ja kestävä muotoilu). The students can choose major studies in fashion, footwear or glass and ceramics. The education includes work-oriented design and expertise supporting the development of products and services in the design industries through conceptualization, product development, production and manufacturing expertise. HAMK is the only provider of undergraduate level education profiles in the footwear, glass and ceramics design sector in Finland. Focus is placed on project expertise and most of the study modules are implemented in cooperation with business and organizations in the field.

The students of Smart and Sustainable Design can also participate in multidisciplinary projects in HAMK Smart Research Units and Design Factory. The research units operate in international innovation ecosystems. Design research focuses on projects for the development of working life and education in a diversity of fields such as in the health care, environmental

or social sectors. Smart and sustainable design can support the wellbeing and health sectors by following the principles of design for all.

The early School of Crafts had practice-based education in different materials such as textiles, clothing, knitwear, fur, footwear, glass, ceramics and industrial products. The education focused on art studies and utilized well-equipped workshops. In the first semester of studies there was also a preliminary course for all students in the spirit of Bauhaus Vorlehre. As a part of the school’s curriculum national heritage was studied by the means of ethnographic field trips during which folk craft items and techniques for making them were collected. The values of local culture, homely materials and entrepreneurial citizenship were subjects of wider cultural political ideas (Kraatari, 2013).

These same values can be recognized in the Sustainable Development Goals (United Nations 2016). HAMK has developed a sustainable development program in 2020 (HAMK 2020). The program lists several objectives and measures to strengthen the sustainability of the university's activities in education, research and everyday activities. However, sustainability has been included in design education already for a long time. By following the Smart and Sustainable Design education the students are encouraged to take a critical approach to their design work.

The key competencies the designer achieves in the degree programme include material knowledge, production and service competencies, entrepreneurial attitude as well as life cycle thinking.

According to a report on the Finnish design sector (professional designers) (Ornamo, 2019) 89% of the survey respondents found climate change and circular economy either important or fairly important. Knowledge on outsourcing and materials, the environmental impacts of processes and socially conscious business models are core content of design education (Bertola, 2018, 10–11). Environmental and global issues concerning cultural, social and ecological sustainability form the goals for design education at HAMK.

Ezio Manzini’s (2013) well-known concept of new models for sustainable production and economic systems; small, local, open and connected (SLOC) is suitable for the development of the design field although the concept was originally developed for the purposes of social innovations. A study by Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund from 2016 in four countries (Spain, Germany, Finland and USA) discussed the changing relationship between people and goods and indicated that enterprises with a purpose would be the winners in the future (Korkman & Greene, 2017).

Many alumni from HAMK design programmes have started their own business. To start with, these companies have had a small-scale design

driven craft-based production in local workshops and studios. To keep the production local is becoming harder and eventually impossible with the volume of production increasing. Such companies are trying to find new business models to support sustainability globally. Instead of increasing production of new products these brands are looking for alternative ways of doing business. They concentrate on the longevity of products or recycling both materials and products or on new smart technologies in production.

The important core of design education at HAMK means working in studios or hands-on learning environments. There are several arguments defending the “studio culture” in design and architecture education. The studio is a complex learning environment. It includes collaborative workshops, peer-to-peer learning, blends of asynchronous and synchronous teaching, flipped classroom exercises, experiential learning or live projects with real clients. It is a place for experimenting, even playfully, for creating, analyzing and exchanging ideas. At its best the studio culture provides a safe and inclusive environment in which students can take risks and increase their confidence. (RIBA, 2020, 4.) In the studios working with different professional materials is essential.

“New Materialism” or the material turn has been launched as a concept in social, cultural and artistic research in the past decade (Barad, 2003; Bennett, 2010; Dolphijn & van der Tuin, 2012; Smelik, 2018). It incorporates interaction with the material world and human beings while showing care for both. From the smart design perspective, it even means understanding that materials can have agency as intellectual matter in technological or biological spheres.

Designers must have an understanding of the whole life cycle of products as well as the production chain with different stakeholders. Without deep knowledge of the materials it is impossible to understand the stages of the life cycles of products. The customer or user forms the core of design processes. User information is discovered through co-design processes.

The curriculum does not encourage drawing designs for some objects to be produced ´´somewhere out there´´. Visualizations, such as drawings, serve for communicating abstract concepts in design teams or among stakeholders in projects or to make ideas visible for the designers themself.

It is intriguing to recognize the same features in the early Wetterhoff School of Crafts education and today´s sustainable and smart concepts in the design field. Local production, the knowhow of making, understanding of materials and aesthetics of local cultures, small scale production in small companies as well as social awareness were all present in the late 19th century. This ongoing trend continues today and will shape the future, as well.

References

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Laitila, I-M. (2015). Fredrika. Kertomus Fredrika Wetterhoffin elämästä ja siitä, kuinka kotiteollisuusopisto sai alkunsa. Hämeenlinnan kaupungin historiallinen museo.

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