The Aalto School of Arts, Design and Architecture is a Nordic leader in higher education for design, fashion, games, media, architecture, film, art education and art. We produce world-class research in art education, design and design thinking, digital media and visual culture, urban planning and architecture. Our graduates innovate in and beyond their fields, drawing on over a century of tradition, a humane and forward-looking approach, and the latest technologies. Our new campus in Espoo, just west of Helsinki, makes working together among and across disciplines easier than ever before.
The Department of Architecture at Aalto University is an internationally renowned education and research unit (within the top 3% of the world in architecture). Concerning Finland’s esteemed architectural heritage, we search for new solutions to sustainable development challenges. To us, architecture is an art form that requires practical skills, individual artistic development, and knowledge of sustainability relevant to design and planning. We educate critical thinkers who accept their responsibility to research and design a socially, culturally, and ecologically sustainable built environment. The Department of Architecture offers degree programmes in architecture, landscape architecture and interior architecture. Currently, the BA level courses are taught primarily in Finnish, whilst MA and doctoral level studies are primarily in English. For more information, please see: http://architecture.aalto.fi/en/
The Department of Architecture invites application for the position of:
Lecturer in Furniture Design
The position will begin on 1 August 2025 or as agreed, and it is placed within the Programme of Interior Architecture in the Department of Architecture.
Furniture Design has a long and illustrious history at Aalto University and its predecessor with consistent international visibility and recognition. To maintain its leadership in the field, Aalto ARTS has opened a call to find a university teacher or lecturer/ university lecturer in Furniture Design. The activities of the department are located mainly at the Otaniemi campus of Aalto University in Espoo (Helsinki metropolitan area).
Your role
The teaching and research area of the lectureship is furniture design. The lecturer's duties include teaching furniture design at both the bachelor's and master's levels, supervising various projects, and participating in the development of teaching, research, and artistic activities at the Department of Architecture. The lecturer will also be involved in supervising and evaluating student works and theses, as well as participating in student selection processes.
Your Experience and Ambitions
The role of the lecturer is diverse and requires extensive expertise. The lecturer must be knowledgeable in Nordic furniture design traditions and contemporary technologies and understand the importance of sustainable development in construction and furniture design. The lecturer will help students understand furniture design as integral to architecture, culture, and art. Responsibilities include lectures on furniture design history and current movements and inspiring students to explore new possibilities. Mastery of various craft, design and presentation techniques and the ability to teach them effectively is essential. Additionally, the lecturer will collaborate seamlessly with workshop masters in workshop environments and mentor students throughout the learning process.
The candidate should have a vision for the future of the field and the capability to work in an evolving, multidisciplinary environment of furniture design. Understanding the commercial aspects of furniture manufacturing and the global business environment is required. The lecturer will work alongside the professor of furniture design and other members of the interior architecture and furniture program to develop the field in the future.
A minimum of a Master's degree in furniture design, interior architecture, or a relevant field is required, along with appropriate artistic and professional qualifications, practical experience, and university-level teaching skills. Practical, artistic or academic research experience and pedagogical training will be considered assets. The language of instruction for the BA major in Furniture Design is Finnish, and for the MA major, it is English. We expect you to have fluent oral and written communication skills for teaching and supervising students in both Finnish and English. Knowledge of the sector's international context is essential for performing the duties successfully.
We are looking for a colleague who can communicate and engage effectively with students, the team, and other faculty members in an inspiring and accessible manner. Applicants are evaluated holistically, which means candidates will be assessed not just on fulfilling individual criteria but on their overall combination and balance of skills relevant to the field and the type of lectureship.
What we offer
We are located on the Aalto University campus in Otaniemi, Espoo, with several other neighboring research institutions and organizations. We offer you a possibility to work within a well-resourced learning, research, and art & design community. The School of Arts, Design and Architecture has a well-equipped infrastructure for research and artistic activities, including top-class audiovisual and workshop premises. We are the only University in Finland that offers studies and conducts research in the fields of architecture, interior architecture, landscape architecture, as well as urban design and urban planning. The lecturer will be part of an inspiring and supportive community of experienced professionals and highly motivated students. The lecturer will also have the opportunity to use the Department’s extensive networks both nationally and internationally, and enjoy our great resources to build educational workshops, master classes and student productions with the help of our production service, Aalto Studios (
https://studios.aalto.fi/ )
The salary will be defined based on the applicant’s qualifications and level of the position and will follow the
Aalto University salary system. In addition to the salary, Aalto University provides its employees with occupational health care and excellent learning and development opportunities.
Ready to apply?
To apply, we kindly ask you to submit your application materials by 27 January 2025 (Eastern European time UTC +2) at the latest. Please find a link to the recruitment system at the end of this application announcement. The following application materials should be submitted in English and in pdf format (please note that the maximum size per document is 5MB):
- Portfolio of professional practice containing up to five most significant publications and/or selected furniture design, architectural or related works presented (max. 20 pages)
- A motivation letter further describing your current merits and your vision on current and future developments of teaching related to the field of Furniture Design (2-3 pages).
If you already work at Aalto University, please apply for the position by using your existing Workday user account! Please see how to apply as an internal applicant
here.
In the second stage of the recruitment process, the recruitment team will select the candidates invited to a site visit to the Department of Architecture in spring 2025. During the site visit, the candidates will be interviewed and asked to give a teaching demonstration for which the instructions will be provided in advance. Applicants will also have the opportunity to meet with staff and students and to present their work more informally. During the evaluation process, we will ask two external reviewers to give their individual assessments of the shortlisted candidates.
Aalto University reserves the right to leave the position open, to extend the application period, to ask for supplementary materials, or to consider additional candidates who have not submitted applications during the application period.
For more information
For additional information, please contact Chair of the Departmental Committee University Lecturer Esa Vesmanen: esa.vesmanen(at)aalto.fi
In questions related to the recruitment process, please contact HR Partner: enni.ailoranta(at)aalto.fi
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