New European Bauhaus in Northern Finland

NEB actors in Northern Finland are applying the movement’s values through the lens of local history, arctic identity and regional development. Stakeholders in the region share a vision that Northern Finland’s unique geographical, social, and ecological conditions offer fertile ground for NEB development, connecting regional, national, and international dimensions.

By rethinking neighborhoods, living spaces, built environments, and nature, NEB in the North encourages a reimagining of the role the regions and localities play within broader European green transition.

Picobello: Capacity-building for NEB integration in Lapland 

The Regional Council of Lapland is a key partner in the Interreg Europe Picobello project, which aims to embed NEB principles into local and regional policymaking.

As part of Picobello, the Regional Council of Lapland is developing pilot projects that bring the NEB vision to life in the Arctic context. With its low population density and vast geographic distances, Lapland provides an ideal testing ground for hybrid and digital solutions to spatial and environmental challenges.

Tourism, particularly international tourism, is a cornerstone of the area’s regional development. While tourism can bring economic opportunities and global visibility to remote regions like Northern Finland, it also carries significant risks. Mass tourism can strain local infrastructure, inflate housing prices, deplete natural resources, and lead to environmental degradation. When tourism becomes extractive—focused solely on consumption rather than connection—it undermines the very landscapes and cultures that attract visitors in the first place.

This is where the New European Bauhaus principles might offer a plausible path forward. By promoting sustainability, aesthetics, and inclusion, the NEB framework encourages a shift to regenerative tourism models. Applying NEB values can help shape a more ecologically, socially, and culturally sustainable tourism industry that partners with local communities, honours Indigenous heritage, and preserves the fragile natural environment.

In parallel, NEB-inspired innovations in construction can help address housing shortages in many Lapland municipalities. The project fosters cooperative initiatives spanning housing, urban development, public space, and digital environments, aiming to enhance the region's livability.

Art of Darkness: Reclaiming the darkness as cultural heritage

The Art of Darkness project brings a unique cultural dimension to the NEB framework by exploring the value of darkness—not as absence, but as a design and cultural asset.

Led by the University of Oulu and funded by Horizon Europe NEB-thematized call (HORIZON-CL2-2024-HERITAGE-01-01), the project emphasizes the aesthetic and ecological benefits of darkness. It advocates for thoughtfully designed nighttime environments that support human well-being, biodiversity, and cultural identity.

The project unites cities, research institutions, and communities across five countries in artistic pilot experiments. These aim to craft sustainable, visually compelling, and socially inclusive nighttime experiences at cultural heritage sites.

A transdisciplinary collaboration, Art of Darkness brings together experts in architecture, lighting design, environmental psychology, cultural anthropology, and engineering—alongside local residents—to reimagine how darkness can shape public space in beautiful, inclusive and sustainable ways.

PROTO: A Northern hub for sustainable design

PROTO – Designers’ Association of Northern Finland—is both a professional network and an exhibition venue based in Oulu, the largest urban centre of Northern Fennoscandia. Home to over 100 designers and architects, NEB partner PROTO connects the private and public sectors through NEB-aligned creative work.

Committed to NEB values—beautiful, sustainable, together—PROTO promotes regional design on the global stage. It facilitates participatory processes that engage communities and reflect a shared regional identity.

PROTO is also a key contributor to Oulu2026, the European Capital of Culture, which will feature NEB projects like the Beyond Zero exhibition.

AaltoSiilo: Reinterpreting Bauhaus/Aalto legacy in the North

AaltoSiilo is another NEB partner located in Oulu. An ambitious heritage project that puts NEB values into practice, the initiative centers on the restoration of the silo storage, a 1931 industrial building designed by the renowed Finnish architect Alvar Aalto.

AaltoSiilo celebrates Aalto’s Bauhaus-influenced legacy and adapts it for today’s environmental and cultural context. It explores the intersection of architecture, art, and sustainability. It revitalises an iconic site while championing creative reuse, particularly through innovative use of reclaimed concrete to reduce the restoration's carbon footprint.

The project has three main goals: safeguarding the silo as a cultural landmark, hosting international artistic and cultural events and creating an international platform for collaboration rooted in Northern identity.

AaltoSiilo is also involved in the Oulu2026 cultural program.

Reconfiguring new Northern localities

The New European Bauhaus is not about imposing a universal European vision or style. Rather, it’s about rethinking how we live and connect, grounded in the distinctiveness of each place, region, and neighbourhood.

Northern Finland offers one example of how NEB can be adapted to diverse local realities while simultaneously contributing to the European Union's shared vision for a green transition.

From policy work in Picobello to cultural experimentation in Art of Darkness, from PROTO’s participatory design to AaltoSiilo’s restoration and community building, the NEB articulations in Northern Finland provide a collaborative platform for communities, creatives, and stakeholders across Northern Finland and beyond.