Finnish design arrives downtown

Downtown, in the World Financial Center, is an exhibition of contemporary design from Finland called SAUMA [Design as Cultural Interface]. The fifteen separate installations in the exhibition "explore new approaches to usability, user experience and the design process itself."

SAUMA begins in a long hallway, where three transparent globes by Hilda Kozári are installed. Each bubble is infused with a different perfume, designed by the artist to evoke the atmosphere of Helsinki, Budapest, and Paris. Stepping into each globe is like entering a scent-filled blur. Paris smells like roses, Budapest a bit musky, and Helsinki a bit smoky - so recognizably smoky, in fact, that I thought I was sniffing the exhalation of the man who had been in there before me.

Other installations are more clever than lyrical, however. Most begin with a familiar premise, but aim to solve a problem in a new way. For example, Klaus Aalto designed what looks like a traditional chest of drawers, but the drawers have been replaced by briefcases, so that their contents are portable. Kari Sivonen designed a portable solar panel system that allows the wearer to convert solar energy into electricity to, say, charge a cell phone.

In the "not in New York" category I would nominate Takkiainen, a jacket made out of Velcro strips "for lonely or bored people... It is designed to help the wearer to get in contact with others. Since we brush against each other every day as we move around in the city, we can use our clothes as a medium for meeting people and communicating with them." This sounds like a nightmare to me. I recoil when people brush against me on the subway, so the idea that someone would come along and actually stick to me is hair-raising - particularly any self-identified loners. Maybe it's different with Finns.

SAUMA is on view until September 10, and was produced by the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York.