Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture

Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture (Finnish: Aalto-yliopiston taiteiden ja suunnittelun korkeakoulu; Swedish: Aalto-universitetets högskola för konst, design och arkitektur), known commonly as TaiK, is the largest art university in the Nordic countries, and was founded in 1871. Media Centre Lume – the National Research and Development Center of audiovisual media – is also located in the university. The university awards the following academic degrees: Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and Doctor of Arts.

The university has been active in establishing research projects and industrial collaborations via the private sector. During the rectorship of Yrjö Sotamaa the university was active in integrating design into Finnish innovation networks. This eventually led to the amalgamation of TaiK together with Helsinki University of Technology (TKK) and the Helsinki School of Economics (HSE) into a new charter university, Aalto University, which started in January 2010.

Organization

Degree programmes are organized under five departments:

• Department of Motion Picture, Television and Production Design
• Department of Media, including the former department Media Lab
• Department of Design
• Department of Art
• Department of Architecture

Notable alumni

The school has during its history educated many of the household names of Finnish art, design and cinema. Many alumni, such as Tapio Wirkkala and Kaj Franck have earned international acclaim for their work.

Name Change Controversy

On November 8th, 2011 Aalto University officials announced that the school's name will be changed to "Aalto University School of Arts and Creativity" on January 1, 2012.^[1] This provoked a strongly negative reaction in the school community, and in two days over 700 people signed a petition condemning the new name as well as the process used to decide on the new name.^[2]

See also

• List of universities in Finland
• Finnish education system

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Aalto_University_School_of_Art_and_Design Aalto University School of Art and Design] at Wikimedia Commons

• School of Art and Design – Official site
• The Student union TOKYO – Official site
• Media Centre Lume – Official site
• The Department of Media – Official site

1. ^ "The new school to be called Aalto University School of Arts and Creativity". http://www.aalto.fi/en/current/news/view/2011-11-08/. Retrieved 12 November 2011. 
2. ^ Frilander, Aino. "Taikkilaiset eivät halua luovuusmaistereiksi". http://nyt.fi/20111110-taikkilaiset-eivat-halua-luovuusmaistereiksi/. Retrieved 12 November 2011.