In September 2025, Helsinki Design Week celebrates its twentieth anniversary with a major exhibition at Suomitalo. Titled Designing Happiness, it is curated by Anniina Koivu — curator, researcher, and educator.

At its heart lies a universal question: can happiness be designed?
“I believe the Designing Happiness exhibition celebrates Helsinki Design Week’s anniversary by exploring what truly generates happiness in our body and mind. It then asks whether happiness can be shaped through design, bringing together concrete examples, immersive experiences, and critical reflections on the science of happiness,” Koivu explains.

The exhibition begins with what scientists call the “happiness cocktail” — four key hormones (dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins) that regulate how the brain and nervous system respond to stimuli such as light, music, exercise, nature, smiles, and laughter.

From this scientific basis, the exhibition unfolds through works by international designers. Some, like Chris Kabel’s circular wooden bench, translate these ideas into physical form. Composed of identical segments cut from a single trunk and held together only by a metal band, the piece highlights the strength and organic nature of wood while questioning how we inhabit and share space.

Alongside Kabel, the exhibition presents works by Eero Aarnio, Erwan Bouroullec, the Achille Castiglioni Foundation, Com-pa-ny, Stefano Giovannoni, Thélonious Goupil, Isabel+Helen, Jacob Kouthoofd Martensson, Frederik Mahler-Andersen, Paula Pääkkönen, Adrien Rovero, Brynjar Sigurdarson, Oiva Toikka, and Clara von Zweigbergk.

In this way, Designing Happiness invites us to consider how design might translate these triggers of wellbeing into tangible experiences, objects, and shared spaces. The exhibition runs from Friday 5 to Sunday 14 September 2025 at Suomitalo, as part of Helsinki Design Week.

“If we look at these triggers,” Koivu asks, “could design help to increase our wellbeing through them?”