New Open Innovation House

For Design and Innovation in context we were asked to design a creative habitat. Looking for inspiration we decided to go to Open Innovation house. Searching in the internet we found its mission statement:

At the Open Innovation House a variety of players, mostly from the ICT sector MEET, INTERACT and EXCHANGE ideas with researchers and students at Aalto University.

"Open Innovation House embraces the ideas driving Aalto University. It is a CO-CREATIONAL platform enabling social interaction and exchange of ideas."

- Tuula Teeri, President of Aalto University

Once there we realize that this mission statement completelly failed in practise:

No companies neither student MEET in this place, even at 11 in the morning where companies are suppose to be having their most active times.

Sofas and windows are a good way of INTERACTION, but no interaction happens in this empty place.

People have lonely lunches here. No EXCHANGE of ideas, projects... nothing.

The perfect place for CO-CREATION is the 4th floor where App Campus takes place but where is the purpose of opening it just 6 weeks a year?

Our proposal for this clear problem is to have two spaces in a single room. A place where things happen, where students and companies work together. The space is there, all we need to do is use it.

The first stage is the kindergarten:

A place where ideations happen, where projects in their first stage are presented and people and companies make speeches. A stage full of colour that will bring out the children we all have inside.

The second stage is the place where projects became a little bit more serious. Where companies and students talk and build things together. For helping with this process screens in tables and in the wall will make interaction more fluent. Companies will send challenges to students and everything that takes place in Open Innovation House will be shown there.

The last stage takes place 4 floors up, in App Campus where companies and students work together to make their dreams come true, where projects that started in kindergarten actually take shape.

But even if interior design is important at the end it's all about relationships. What we really need is not furniture, is people to ensure that things happen in this place, that people bring together and innovation is breath in the ambient.

We really believe that action needs to be taken in OIH and we believe that our solution is a cheap way of making this happen.

What are you waiting for?

The door of Open Innovation House is open.