Led by moderator Dr. Stephen Tang, the panel will share their success stories and views on the secrets to success in America and will focus on how the Nordic countries became global leaders in such innovative industries as design, travel and hospitality, cuisine and gaming.

Children’s Chair N65

Inspired by Swedish design reformer and social theorist Ellen Key’s book entitled Century of the Child (1900), and looking back through the 20^th century 100 years after its publication, the exhibition, which will be housed in the Joan and Preston Robert Tisch Exhibition Gallery on the sixth floor of the museum, is the first large-scale overview of the modernist preoccupation with children and childhood as a paradigm for progressive design thinking. Key predicted that the 20^th century would be one of intensified focus and progressive thinking regarding the rights, development and well-being of children and their importance to society.

The exhibition will bring together school architecture, clothing, playgrounds, toys and games, children’s hospitals and safety equipment, nurseries, furniture and books. These areas are often considered separately and are underrepresented in design history, despite their importance to the concerns, ambitions and activities of modern architects and designers. It will examine individual and collective visions for the material world of children, from utopian dreams to darker realities of political conflict and exploitation.

The Table Lamp TW001 was designed by Wirkkala in the 1960’s and features a white HD polyethylene shade and a white or black painted birch base. The M510, designed in the 1950’s, is made up of a white paper shade perched on a clear, hand blown glass base. The A808 floor lamp, designed in the 1950’s by Aalto, includes a shade in polished brass or white painted steel and a base and stand covered in black or white leather with a white painted or polished brass neck.

From the development of the modern house to the emergence of information design, each era faces the challenge of adapting conventional ideas to new technology, social needs, and cultural ideals. “Rethinking Typologies” takes a broad historical view of the innovations that have shaped contemporary life and the built environment through suites of work devoted to historical and emerging typologies in architecture and design. Spanning the 20th and 21st centuries, these thematic suites highlight important recent acquisitions and areas of strength in the permanent collection of the Department of Architecture and Design at the Art Institute of Chicago.      

During the conference, participants will meet, learn, and experience insights from Finnish leaders, including Kullberg and Kokkonen, Tapio Hakanen of Nokia, Jeremiah Tesolin of Marimekko, Illka Suppanen of Studio Suppanen and Ville Heijari of Rovio. The conference will take place April 25-26 at Helsinki’s Wanha Satama.

Why: Mirkku Kullberg, CEO of Artek, and Michael Manes, President and Founder of M2L, celebrate the introduction of the Ilmar Tapiovaara collection. To attend, RSVP to ArtekM2LDC@bdeonline.biz or call 212/353-1383.

The use of CMA robotics not only boosts the rate of production, but offers Artek customers a virtually limitless array of color choices. The robot is guided through the entire spraying cycle, storing the actions in a program which allows the sequence to be repeated. Once the program is stored, the robot is ready to be deployed to the paint booth, where all of the painting is done. The spraying cycle makes use of a carousel, which allows pieces to be changed quickly, with the robot remaining stationary while the carousel rotates.  At the Artek factory, the robot is used for both painting and varnishing.