Designing for wellbeing

local points of view. Second, our presence in Mellunkylä lasted only eight
weeks. Through this combination we managed to avoid, on the one hand,
the disinterested habitual presence typical of permanently living or working
somewhere that is a common problem for locals, for example never
having time to visit local attractions because there is always “tomorrow” 10 .
On the other hand, through emphasising that we really are living here, in
Kontula, in these quarters, we think we also managed to avoid the equally
disinterested mindset of a tourist looking for exotic events taking place
but not really touching anyone’s real life. We think we can say that we had
a temporary home in Kontula that enabled us to better understand the
local systems of meanings at our design work and ensured that the future
visions would have roots in real life.
Reception
The design studio affected our reputation. The local people saw us in a
different light than the numerous other, more distant, projects. Having
a design studio in the field was a message of commitment to the local
community. Our local perspective showed our interest, which the locals
appreciated. It opened doors to visit places and meet special people. Also,
the students’ humble perspective and admiration for the neighbourhood
made local activists appreciate their own efforts more. The neighbourhood
is reaching out, for example, by initiating collaboration with the more
up-scale Töölö neighbourhood in downtown Helsinki. Nowadays we are
seen as one of the local actors and expected to run new projects. The project
helped define a longer-term mutual interest between local activists
and design researchers, and a partnership between Aalto University and
10 Löfgren O. & Ehn B. (2010). The secret world of doing nothing. Berkeley: University of California
Press.
95 · Design studio in the field