Image: Architecture & Design Museum, Helsinki
Helsinki’s Architecture & Design Museum says it will be open every day in July and August, including Mondays, while also rolling out a summer program of architecture walks and highlighting the international travel of works from its collections. The museum’s newsletter also notes that Taito Cafe and the Design Shop will operate according to the summer opening schedule, with weekday hours of 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and weekend hours of 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The museum’s summer activities are centered on guided walks across Helsinki, with seven different architecture tours offered during the season. One of them, 'Ullanlinnan merellistä jugendia', focuses on the southern districts of Ullanlinna and Eira, areas known for their leafy parks, colorful Art Nouveau apartment houses and seaside atmosphere. According to the museum’s site, the walk begins at the museum and continues toward the Ullanlinna shoreline before moving on to Eira’s streets.
The next public edition of 'Ullanlinnan merellistä jugendia' is scheduled for Saturday, 4 July at 1 p.m. The museum says tickets must be purchased in advance, the group is limited to 25 participants, and the tour can also be booked privately for a group. The architecture-walk program is described by the museum as being created by its specialists and led by trained museum guides, with routes available in Finnish and English and lasting 75 to 90 minutes.
Alongside the Helsinki walks, the museum is drawing attention to the overseas use of its collection through 'Marimekko: Art of Printmaking – Beauty, Dream, Love', which opens in Kyoto on 4 July. The museum says roughly 70 works and photographs in the exhibition come from its own collections. The show focuses on Marimekko’s printed textiles and on founder Armi Ratia’s ideas about color, beauty and everyday joy.
The Kyoto presentation includes photographs, historical magazine articles, iconic patterns and clothing from different decades. From Kyoto, the exhibition is set to travel on to Tokyo and Hiroshima. In the museum’s newsletter, the Marimekko section is paired with an image caption noting that the 'Galleria' pattern is by Vuokko Nurmesniemi, underscoring the role of the museum’s Marimekko holdings in the presentation.
The newsletter also points to another work from the museum’s orbit now visible in the current 'Aalto Design – Hyvinvoinnin muodot' exhibition: Ilona Sagar’s video work 'Other Actors' (2025). Sagar has been named one of four nominees for the 2026 Jarman Award, which Film London gives to artists working in experimental film and moving image in the United Kingdom. The award’s winner is due to be announced in London in November.
'Aalto Design – Hyvinvoinnin muodot' is listed as on view at the museum from 5 June 2026 to 3 January 2027, while 'Pako Muumilaaksoon' runs from 10 October 2025 to 1 November 2026 and 'Juha Vehmaanperä: Craft Punk' from 20 February to 6 September 2026. The museum’s summer calendar also lists a series of related talks, introductions and tours through 11 July, including 'Historiallinen Helsinki – Kiveen hakattu pääkaupunki', 'Craft Punk 15 minuutissa' and 'Aalto Helsingissä – Valoa, kuparia ja inhimillistä modernismia'.
