Join us for a panel discussion on the current prospects of architecture and design learning in K-12 education and hear compelling case examples from Finland and the U.S.

How do you build a better world? How can your creativity improve your community? What does it take to bring bold ideas to life? These are just a few of the questions educators, parents, and students learn to solve in a creative and innovative way with methods adapted from the worlds of design and architecture. Through engaging design- and architecture-based lessons and activities, students learn critical thinking skills and nurture their creativity while gaining a richer understanding of their potential to shape the world around them.

In this webinar, experts on both sides of the Atlantic (Helsinki and New York) will discuss pedagogical methods of architecture and design in formal education from pre-school to secondary education (K12).

Panelists include Leena Svinhufvud (Educational Curator, Head of Learning, Design Museum Helsinki), Hanna Kapanen (Educational Curator, Design Museum Helsinki), Eeva Astala (Social Advocacy Expert, Archinfo Finland), Catherine Teegarden (Director of Education, AIA Center for Architecture, New York), and Alexa Griffith-Winton (Manager, Content + Curriculum at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York); the conversation will be moderated by design curator and consultant Aidan O’Connor.

This event will take place as a Zoom webinar; please ask questions in the chat or send them in advance to  info@amscan.org. Registration is required; please sign up via the link above.

The event is organized by the Consulate General of Finland in New York and Scandinavia House in cooperation with the A&DO Learning Centre for Architecture and Design and Archinfo Finland.

Alexa Griffith-Winton, Manager, Content + Curriculum at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Alexa Griffith-Winton is a design historian and educator. She is currently Manager, Content + Curriculum at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. She has researched and published on the work of Dorothy Liebes for over ten years. Griffith’s work has been published in numerous scholarly and popular publications, including the Journal of Design History, Dwell, Journal of the Archives of American Art, and the Journal of Modern Craft. She edited Textile Technology and Design: From Interior Space to Outer Space with Deborah Schneiderman (Bloomsbury Academic, 2016) and Interior Provocations: History, Theory and Practice of the Autonomous Interior (Routledge, 2020). She has received research grants from the Graham Foundation, the New York State Council for the Arts, Center for Craft, Creativity and Research, Nordic Culture Point, and the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation.

Catherine Teegarden, Director of Education, AIA Center for Architecture
Catherine Teegarden manages the Center for Architecture’s K-12 education programs, which include school, family, and youth workshops. She has a Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University and is a licensed elementary school teacher. Catherine helped establish the organizations’ Learning By Design:NY program in 1990 and served as its first director from 1996-2001, returning in 2009 after taking time off to be with her children.

Eeva Astala, Social Advocacy Expert, Archinfo Finland
Eeva Astala is Archinfo Finland’s social advocacy expert. Astala has solid experience in architecture education, not only from the perspective of expert positions but also as a producer of teaching material and as an educator. She has also taken part in creating Finland’s new national curriculum for basic education in the arts in architecture as well as in developing interdisciplinary learning modules.

Leena Svinhufvud, Educational Curator, Head of Learning, Design Museum Helsinki
Leena Svinhufvud is Educational Curator and Head of Learning at Design Museum Helsinki since 1998. She is pioneer in developing design education for children and young people in Finland and has conducted several projects on both national and international level, for example the Ampiainen ­National Day for Architecture and Design in the School (2005­–­2010) and Fantasy Design projects funded by the EU Culture Programme (Fantasy Design – Children and young people as designers, 2003–2006; Fantasy Design in Community, 2009­–2011). She is an art historian by training and completed her PhD in 2009 on the modernization of applied art in Finland. She is also an active researcher of design history and has curated several exhibitions. Leena loves Finnish design history, and she gets excited about engaging you with the museum collections.

Hanna Kapanen, Educational Curator, Design Museum Helsinki
Hanna Kapanen is Educational Curator at Design Museum Helsinki. She works in learning and public programmes, contributing to museum’s learning and engagement strategies. She develops activities for a variety of audiences. She is the manager of Design Academy, the joint programme of Design Museum Helsinki and Ornamo Art and Design Finland an expert organization for designers in Finland to develop design activities in Helsinki schools (2010-ongoing).  She lectures actively and has edited several books on design education and museum learning. She is part of the team responsible for the A&DO – Learning Centre for Architecture and Design a joint Museum Vision project (2018–2023) of the Museum of Finnish Architecture and Design Museum Helsinki. Recently she has been working with the educational concept of the A&DO Lab exhibition. Hanna holds a Master of Fine Arts from University of the Arts Helsinki and a Master of Arts in Visual Art Education from Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture.

Aidan O’Connor is a design curator and consultant newly based in Minneapolis. She has worked in curatorial departments at MoMA, Cooper Hewitt, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology and guest curated exhibitions for the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and Vandalorum in Sweden. Additional experiences include teaching design history at SVA and Pratt, directing strategic initiatives for AIGA, and managing The National Design Awards. With a broad expertise in modern and contemporary design, her special interests include design for children, the Cold War, Nordic cultures, gender, pop culture, sustainability, and STEAM education.

Archinfo Finland is a collaboration and intermediary organization in the field of architecture. Its objective is to make Finnish architecture visible and known worldwide and to increase the social impact of architecture. Archinfo Finland is one of the eight information centers for art supported by the Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland. Promoting architecture education is one of Archinfo Finland’s missions.

A&DO – Learning Centre for Architecture and Design is a joint project co-managed by the Museum of Finnish Architecture and Design Museum Helsinki. The project seeks to make information, competence and professionals of architecture and design available to all interested parties, and to improve the understanding that Finns have of architecture, design and environmental planning. Good living environment, shared planning efforts and accessibility are important topics of the project. A&DO – Learning Centre for Architecture and Design will be further developed in 2020–2023, and will later become an integral part of Helsinki’s new Architecture and Design Museum.