World Design Capital Gala

World Design Capital Gala brings together three important design and architecture prizes: the World Design Impact Prize, to be awarded for the first time by Icsid, the international design organisation behind the World Design Capital title, as well as the Alvar Aalto Medal and the Estlander Prize.

The gala will take place in Sibelius Hall in Lahti in front of an invited audience. Those awarded prizes at the gala will talk about their work during the open Design and Architecture Day on Friday 3 February 2012 at the Kiasma Theatre.

The Alvar Aalto Medal is an international architecture prize and is awarded about every five years to an architect or architecture company that has excelled in the field of creative architecture. The first medal was awarded to Alvar Aalto in 1967.

The Medal Committee consist of the Finnish Association of Architects SAFA, the Museum of Finnish Architecture, the Architectural Society, the Alvar Aalto Foundation and the city of Helsinki. The Committee nominates a jury consisting of experts that will select the winnerl. In 2011 the chairman of the jury was architect Glenn Murcut. Other members were architects Jens Arnfred, Luis Mansilla, Simo Paavilainen and Roy Mänttäri.

The Estlander Prize was established by Design Forum Finland and is awarded in recognition of important work in promoting Finnish design. The Estlander Prize is named after the Forum’s founder member, Professor Carl Gustaf Estlander, and in the spirit of his life’s work.

The Estlander Prize is EUR 5,000 accompanied by the bronze Estlander Medal designed by Tero Laaksonen. Last time the prize was awarded to Kirsti Paakkanen in 2000.

World Design Capital Gala is one of the WDC Signature Events.