HDL Global Jaakko Ihamuotila's reflections on HDL Global 1968

Leading up to HDL Global 2010 we've been digging into the HDL archives and talking to some of the organizers of the event in the 1960s that has grown up to become part of the Helsinki Design Lab initiative.

Jaakko Ihamuotila spent decades running Neste and Fortum, two of Finland's largest corporations, but as a young student he was one of the organizers, together with Juhani Pallasmaa and three others, of HDL Global 1968.

Jaakko kindly sat with me in his home for this video interview discussing his role as one of the organizers of Teollisuus Ympäristö Tuotesuunnittelu (Helsinki Design Lab Global 1968), and in particular the value of design when exploring new areas of knowledge.

1 comment

Posted by Bryan Boyer
August 18th, 2010
 

As a young economics reporter at the Swedish newspapers Svenska Dagbladet and Dagens Nyheter in the early/mid 80's I made several interviews with Ihamuotila, and especially remember his enormous office at Neste. I had no idea about his background in design thinking. I am new to HDL but as a Demos research associate 2003-2005 I did follow the contacts between Sitra and Demos and I guess HDL is in some way related to these contacts. Would really like to know more about your upcoming event on September 1. Bjarne Stenquist, senior advisor social sustainability/innovation, Malmo City, Sweden.

posted by Bjarne Stenquist — 4 weeks ago

What is HDL?

Helsinki Design Lab uses strategic design to uncover the "architecture" of large-scale challenges and develop more holistic, complete solutions for improvement. We strive to advance knowledge, capability, and achievement in this discipline, regardless of geography or nationality. HDL most recently operated 2009-2013 and is now closed.

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