I’m not going to tell you where to live. And even if I did, I’m afraid I couldn’t help you get there. Because it’d be Finland, a nation of five million frequently frozen souls (only slightly more than live in Minnesota) a long way from America, and not just physically.
In the MIA’s sharp new exhibition, “Finland: Designed Environments,” curator Jennifer Komar-Olivarez lays out a gorgeous and devastatingly convincing argument for how Finnish design—of objects, the home, and public projects—has helped vault the Nordic nation to the top of just about every quality-of-life measure, including just plain coolness. Just walking through the show, your faith in humanity—and the deep green of your envy—are restored. Here, eight objects in the exhibition that explain the Finns’ enviable success.
1) The Sukupuu (Family Tree) maternity package
These care packages from the government have been given out to new parents in Finland since 1937. They were redesigned in 2012 with the Family Tree theme shown here and updated in line with the latest thinking on healthy, sustainable living (cloth diapers, no more baby bottles in favor of encouraging breast feeding). Should you feel that you could do a better job spending your money than the government, you can get that money in lieu of the package—but few Finns choose that option. Not only do they trust their government, they trust each other, which helps explain why they by and large believe in the common good (Rand Paul, much less Ron, would get nowhere here). Small wonder that Finland is regularly ranked the best place in the world to be a mother.
2) Kubo light-therapy lamp
Much of the year, Finland is dark. Like, Arctic Circle dark. Which explains why the seemingly most content, well-adjusted people on earth have the world’s most heavy metal bands per capita, and a booming business in designing lamps that alleviate SAD, that terribly evocative acronym for seasonal affective disorder. The lamps are cool, not clinical, since Finns don’t see SAD sufferers as unfortunate weaklings, or light deprivation as a personal problem. They see it for what it is: a widespread public issue. So why not recognize that and get on with winter in style?
3) Kaiku fabric
The forest of loosely drawn birch trees behind the mannequin is Marimekko’s popular Kaiku (Echo) pattern from 2004. There isn’t much more one needs to say about this except that Marimekko, founded in the Finnish capital of Helsinki in 1951, is reason enough to enjoy Finland. And these days the company is embracing the Finnish love of nature, which just makes it that much cooler.
4) Palikka stool
About that love of nature. Finland is the most forested country in Europe—75 percent carpeted with woods. And Finns are serious about enjoying it: they hike, bike, hunt, fish, camp. Top jewelers make incredible pieces out of rocks and wood. New neighborhoods are built to blend with the environment and facilitate outdoor activities. And, apparently, Finns sit on chopped wood. This stool is somewhat whimsically comprised of wood scraps from Finland’s booming lumber industry, a product of Woodism—both a philosophy of sustainability and a group of designers who make high design out of scrap timber and lumber.
5) Necklace by Janna Syvänoja
It looks alive, and some would argue it is—as alive as any literature. Repurposing books, to mesmerizing effect, is a favored technique of Syvänoja. In keeping with Nordic jewelry tradition, which values the meaning of jewelry more than the materials, the takeaway here is a commitment to recycling—after reading, of course. And she likely did read the book: Finns are book people and book borrowers, reflecting the country’s embrace of public institutions: nowhere else, by a wide margin, do people check out more library books.
6) Angry Birds
If you haven’t played this weirdly addictive app, in which birds fling themselves at pigs, you’re in a shrinking minority: it’s been downloaded more than two billion times, making it the most popular Finnish invention since the sauna (unofficially). For a profoundly persevering, stoic people (read up on sisu), Finns know how to entertain themselves: Finnish designers are by far the most prolific iPad app developers in the world.
7) Kenno L chair
A cardboard chair for children. Not plastic, to be tossed in three years, not cheap Ikea particle board to be tossed in 10 months. Recycled, and recyclable, cardboard. What makes more sense than that? Heck the kids can even write on it. Of course, you have to live with a cardboard chair, but when it looks this cool—and everyone you know is just as committed to the common good as you are—you’re probably okay with that.
8) Brooklyn Bicycle
Finland needn’t kowtow to any supposedly cooler locale, and the Brooklyn cruiser is really far more Finnish than Brooklynish. The relatively new Pelago Bicycle company recently formed in response to increased urban cycling, but cycling is not a new trend—it’s long been the second-most popular form of exercise in Finland, next to walking, as reflected in this bike’s classic design. In summer, Helsinki (shown on the fabric behind the bike) is flooded with some 25,000 bicycle commuters, part of why the capital is regularly ranked among the top three most livable cities in the world.
9) BONUS: Fly in the john
Let’s face it, the Finns have lopped off all the low-hanging fruit of sustainability. So they can drill down to some environmental issues you probably hadn’t thought about, like the amount of toxic cleaner needed to mop up poorly directed urine around toilets. This proposal to put flies in urinals to give men something to aim at is part of a graphic design project addressing the environment, climate change, and, very briefly, men’s inherently bad aim.
