Spotlight on Helsinki: Design-Savvy City Between Land and Sea

Helsinki Design Week is a clear highlight, but the Finnish capital is a year-round destination for the creatively curious, writes Paula Hotti Architects Alvar and Aino Aalto, design houses Marimekko and Iittala and, of course, the Moomins have made Finnish design famous around the world. Yet Helsinki is not content to rest on its 20th-century icons. In Finland’s capital, architecture, interiors, food and public spaces are constantly evolving, while the Baltic Sea, parks and more than 300 islands keep nature remarkably close to urban life. That combination comes alive at the end of summer for Helsinki Design Week. Running August 28 to September 6, the 2026 program brings together architecture, interiors, fashion, digital design and urban planning in the largest Nordic showcase of its kind. One of this year’s highlights, according to founder and CEO Kari Korkman, is the new Futuro house at Kaisaniemi Botanic Garden. Designed by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen in the 1960s, the UFO-shaped Futuro is a classic of experimental architecture. Led by architectural heritage expert Jan van Dijs and created in collaboration with Helsinki Design Week and Marimekko, the project marks the first brand-new Futuro in Finland for 60 years.

  Yet, for Helsinki-based Korkman, the city’s creative character extends far beyond the festival. “Helsinki’s restaurant scene provides endless new finds. And they’re ‘design’ too, if you think of the interior architecture and the service concepts. Not to mention the ‘lippakioski’,” he adds, referring to the functionalist-style kiosks dotted around the city, open throughout summer in guises ranging from champagne bars to ice cream parlors. The relationship between city and sea is equally distinctive, Korkman continues, as ferries to the archipelago are part of Helsinki’s public transport system. In fact, Korkman describes the archipelago’s accessibility as one of the city’s great luxuries: “If you fly into Helsinki, within an hour you can be on a ferry to an island, eating well or going sailing.” On the island of Lauttasaari, a 2,150 sq ft residence will soon span the entire top floor of a new-build development. “It comes with views south, west and north, guaranteeing glorious sunsets all year round,” says Soile Goodall, senior broker at Snellman QIC Realty’s International Realty. Scheduled for completion in August 2027, “the most compelling aspect is the opportunity to create a genuinely bespoke home from the outset,” she adds.  

Helsinki’s cultural appeal is growing. Five of its Aalto-designed buildings were named as Unesco World Heritage sites in July; in spring 2027, the National Museum of Finland will reopen with a new extension; and in 2030, a new Museum of Architecture and Design is due to open, adding another major cultural destination to the waterfront. For residents, this is the essence of Helsinki: a city where sophisticated urban life, world-class design and the freedom of the sea exist within easy reach of one another.

The former Red Cross-owned building in Ullanlinna, dating from 1935, sits close to the shoreline. Within it, a loft apartment with five-metre high ceilings combines industrial rawness with contemporary comfort. “The result is a home with the scale and character of a New York or London loft, but with a distinctly Finnish restraint and attention to detail,” says Goodall. Among its signature Finnish features is a luxurious sauna. In the same neighborhood, a three-bedroom apartment in a 1906 building by celebrated Finnish architect Karl August Wrede has two balconies facing east and west. Residents of the Art Nouveau block also have access to impressive sauna facilities and a private gym.

Meanwhile in Helsinki’s neighboring city of Espoo, Villa Snow White showcases architect Pekka Helin’s talent and was nominated for a World Architecture Festival award in 2011. “The house has been designed around its setting rather than simply placed on the plot,” says Goodall. “This is a particularly Finnish approach to luxury—private and closely connected to nature, with quality expressed through architecture, materials and craftsmanship rather than ornament.”