Sam Clifford

Essay: The Garage of Small Things; nanotechnology, biomimicry and design practice (Annex)

The Garage of Small Things: from seashells to butterfly wings, how nanotechnology reveals nature’s true potential

Olli Ikkala walks quickly. We are almost chasing him down a spotless white corridor at Aalto University’s “Nanotalo” facility, trying to keep up. It’s like he’s trying to get to the future as quickly as possible, just to see how it turns out.

“We” are Ville Kokkonen and Anna Vartiainen, from Finnish design company Artek, photographer Tuomas Uusheimo, and me.

I must admit, it’s stuff like this that makes me want to move to Helsinki for at least a few years. The story here covers nanotechnology, Finnish architectural heritage, the interactions between physical space and work capacity and academic culture.

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