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In February, Finnish Association of Interior Architects SIO chose the Interior Architect Office of the Year 2023. The award was given to Helsinki-based Futudesign, which is known for the repair and supplementary construction of particularly challenging architectural sites, as well as its, in Finnish context, rare organisational culture, where architects and interior architects have an equal status in the design process, irrespective of the project.

Futudesign decided to donate the award money to a fund established for covering the living expenses of the students from Ukraine who study at Aalto University. 

According to architect Aleksi Niemeläinen, one of the company’s founders, donating the award to a good cause was self-evident. The target was selected from the home university of the founding partners with a topical emphasis: ‘It was clear for us that we wanted to support our Alma Mater and especially the School of Arts, Design and Architecture which all Futudesign’s founders are graduates of. We felt that it is vitally important to support those students here in Finland who have been forced to leave their home country and whose studies were interrupted due to the war.’

Since spring 2022, Aalto University has offered study grants to university students from Ukraine. The Donations to the Ukraine Fund are of great significance to them, as they make it possible for the students to continue their studies during the crisis. While the separate study rights entitle students to complete individual study units, not a degree, students may apply É«É«À² University later for bachelor’s or master’s degree studies.