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Happy faces, informal speeches, the selection of a hugging point, and a multilingual buzz of speech – months of hard work culminated on 22 April when Design Factory Korea (DFK) opened at Yonsei University in the city of Seoul.

'Fun makes learning more effective. This is just the start of new type of learning,' emphasised Tuula Teeri, President of Aalto University, who took part in the opening ceremony.

Innovation hubs implemented according to the Design Factory concept developed at Aalto University now operate in six countries: Finland, Switzerland, Chile, Australia, China, and now South Korea.  Like its predecessors, the goal at DFK is to encourage students towards creativity, entrepreneurship, and leadership as well as to create new possibilities for collaboration, also with international companies. In Finland, for example, Design Factory students have worked in multidisciplinary teams to solve company challenges in a product development course that is held each year.

Massive interest

Meri Vainio , who has been running the DFK project, said that the new type of learning space has inspired massive interest among students, staff and even companies.

'The project already attracted a lot of attention during the construction phase, and the number of people and organisations represented at the opening ceremony were more extensive and larger than we ever expected,' she says with pleasure.

'Everything came together faster than I've seen anywhere else. The space may look finished, but it will still change once the real users – the students – put their mark on it and adapt it to their needs.'