Hanna Harris Appointed Director of The Architecture Information Centre Finland

Hanna Harris has been appointed as the Director of the Architecture Information Centre Finland. Her term begins on 15.2.2016 when the current director Tiina Valpola retires. Valpola will continue to serve the Centre in an advisory capacity.The Architecture Information Centre Finland (Arkkitehtuurin tiedotuskeskus) began its operations in 2013 as an organisation providing expertise, establishing collaborative opportunities and acting as an intermediary in its own field. Its aim is to increase general awareness of architecture and urban design, to strengthen their impact within society and to promote Finnish architecture and urban design at home and abroad. The activities of the Centre are maintained by the registered association Finnish Centre for Architecture (Arkkitehtuurikeskus ry), whose members are key Finnish architectural bodies and organisations. The Architecture Information Centre Finland is the youngest of Finland’s eight information centres in the arts supported by the Ministry of Education and Culture.”Hanna Harris has a track record of successfully realised and acknowledged international assignments and she possesses an extensive knowledge of both architecture as well as the wider cultural field, She has been selected to steer the Architecture Information Centre during the coming years within an increasingly demanding and networked field of communication and activities. The Centre‘s initial commencement period commendably led by Tiina Valpola provides a great base for the next chapter,” said the chairman of the board of Finnish Centre for Architecture Asko Takala.Harris is a curator, producer and researcher with more than 15 years of international experience in leadership and curatorial roles in the arts. Her education is in urban studies, design, new media and art. She joins the Architecture Information Centre from Helsinki Design Week. Since 2014, she has served as Programme Director of the largest design festival in the Nordic region as well as having set up and launched its new all-year-round online media platform, the Helsinki Design Weekly.Prior to joining Helsinki Design Week, Harris directed the Arts & Culture Programme at The Finnish Institute in London (2008-2013) where she conceived and produced a series of critically acclaimed design and architecture commissions. Previously Harris has held curatorial and production roles for various festivals and in television.  Since 2005, she has worked as an urban researcher at the University of Helsinki and Aalto University and abroad at the universities of Cambridge, Westminster, Milano-Bicocca and Sorbonne. Harris is finalising her PhD in Urban Studies and regularly lectures and publishes widely across the arts and academia.”The Architecture Information Centre holds a key role in fostering new collaboration, wider impact within society and greater international visibility for Finnish architecture and urban design. It is an honour to join the centre to develop its activities at this important time,” Harris says.For enquiries, please contact Chairman of the Board ­­­­­­­­­­­­Asko Takala, tel. +358 40 718 6877 and Deputy Chair Juulia Kauste, tel. +358 45 7731 1233