A Pop-Up Marketplace on Helsinki’s Harbor

May 19th in Helsinki is “Restaurant Day.” The city opens up to pop-up restaurants in the streets, city gardens, or buildings; this year, six design students from the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture launched the Torikoju marketplace (Finnish for “stalls”).

Collaborating with Kobe Design University in Japan, Torikoju is part of their Eating in Open Air project, a project examining the traditions and habits of eating outside and their place in Finnish and Japanese culture. The pop-up cafe at the Hietalahti harbor was designed entirely by the six students: market stall, tables, stools, glass coffee percolators, ceramics, aprons, herb bags, and more textiles. Read on for more about the one-day event and the design by each Aalto University student; see more on their exhibitions at Torikoju.

Photography by Venla Helenius for Torikoju.

Above: The students wear aprons made from seven different pairs of denim, held together with a leather belt by Janni Turtiainen.

Above: The Torikoju tent was designed as an archetype of a minimalist Finnish house made from painted steel, marquees, and a transparent screen fabric. Made Noora Liesimaa.

Above: The six students behind their handmade Torikoju (stall).

Above: Basket trays by Tero Kuitunen and Tiina Leinonen were inspired by Finnish birch bark but made from a paper-porcelain mix.

Above: Antti Kangas designed a coffee percolator from laboratory glass and stainless steel.

Above: Ceramics by Tero Kuitenen and Tiina Leinonen, who were inspired by the standard paper cups at Finnish marketplace cafes. With an emphasis on a rounded edge, the porcelain cups were stained in different shades of blue.

Above: A new version of the Finnish räsymatto (rag rug) made by Annaleena Hämäläinen and Janni Turtiainen from fabric scraps leftover from the market aprons.

Above: An herb bag designed to encourage guerilla gardening. Made by Janni Turtiainen and Annaleena Hämäläinen from adjustable tanned cow leather straps and a rich orange marquee fabric.

N.B.: Traveling to Finland on “Restaurant Day”? See more of our favorite haunts in our Finland City Guide.