Are you in Helsinki with nothing to do? Spend half a day in Arabia and see the design and art sights in and around the creative block. The block has plenty to show you: two museums, exhibitions and design, interior design and gift shops – and so many opportunities to spot sculptures, graphic concrete, mosaics and light-art installations and other art that livens up the surroundings.
MUSEUMS
Designmuseum Arabia
Hämeentie 135, 8th floor
Admire Finnish ceramics and glass art in the permanent exhibition featuring the creations of legendary Finnish designers such as Kaj Franck, Timo Sarpaneva and Tapio Wirkkala.
Iittala & Arabia Design Centre
Hämeentie 135, 8th floor
Iittala’s and Arabia’s joint design centre is a window to the past, present and future of beloved Finnish designers. You can take a guided tour and perhaps even bump into some of the artists.
WORKROOMS, EXHIBITIONS, SHOPS
Arabia Art Department Society’s workrooms
Hämeentie 135, 8th floor
The Arabia Art Department Society was established in 2003 to safeguard and develop the legacy of the Arabia art department founded in the 1930s. The society’s founders are professors Heljä Liukko-Sundström (1938–2024) and Heikki Orvola, Fujiwo Ishimoto, Inkeri Leivo (1944–2010), Kati Tuominen-Niittylä, Pekka Paikkari, Kristina Riska and Heini Riitahuhta.
The artists’ workrooms are located on the eighth floor of the creative block, in the long hallway of Arabia’s art department. Artwork by the society’s members is exhibited along the hallway and it is possible to gain glimpses of the artwork – and maybe even the artists – through a glass wall.
Design, interior decoration and gift shops
Hämeentie 135, 1st floor
The creative block features a selection of shops where you can find outlet deals: pop into the Iittala-Arabia store, Pentik, Finlayson, Artebia Design, Seven Art or the Putinki stationery shop while on your art expedition.
Galleria Ilona
Hämeentie 135 A, third floor. The lifts are located next to the Helsinki city library.
Galleria Ilona (closed in July) shows artwork by students from Metropolia University of Applied Sciences’ creative fields in changing exhibitions. Metropolia’s campus is home to 14 different degree programmes in culture and creativity. Recently, Ilona has featured course work by students in, for example, textile design, industrial design, graphic design, interior architecture and XR design.
SevenArt
Hämeentie 135, 1st floor
Seven Art is a frame and poster shop that also exhibits graphic art and posters. Can you spot artwork by Jani Leinonen or Anssi Kasitonni?
PARKS AND ENVIRONMENTAL ART
Tapio Wirkkala park
Arabiankatu 5
The Tapio Wirkkala Park, opened in 2012, is an art park designed by the US architect Robert Wilson. It is a comprehensive artwork and a landmark that offers the city’s residents a place to meet. The park is divided into nine areas surrounded by hawthorn hedges, which Wilson calls “rooms”. The various rooms contain a forest made of standing stones, bronze horses, seats made of stone, lamps and a recycled fireplace. The park is part of HAM’s (Helsinki Art Museum) public art collection.
The first art district
Arabianranta’s new residential area is also Helsinki’s first art district, and the City of Helsinki has mandated the area’s developers to use one to two per cent of their construction costs towards art. When strolling the nearby areas of the Arabia135 block, you will come across sculptures, graphic concrete, mosaic and light-art installations, as well as a range of other art that elevates the atmosphere and lifts people’s spirits.
The block’s reliefs
If you make your way to the bottom floor of Arabia135’s entrance A (the factory’s old office section), you can find some fabulous reliefs!