Markku Hedman, Chair of the seminar

Prof. Hedman is director of Alvar Aalto Academy, which operates in conjunction with the Alvar Aalto Foundation. The Alvar Aalto Academy is an international discussion forum for environmental culture particularly modern architecture, product design, plus relevant research and training. Hedman is a also professor for housing design in Tampere University of Technology (TUT).

He is the founder and director of ASUTUT, a research group focused on housing design at TUT. Prof. Markku Hedman has conducted several experimental, sustainability oriented research and design projects. He is a popular key note speaker in urban development and housing design conferences. He is a member in the boards of the leading Finnish housing development organizations. Hedman is MD of Architects a-live Cooperative, which is an office concentrating on innovative development urban and housing design projects. Recent projects of a-live are related to industrial wooden housing construction.

Henrika Pihlajaniemi Keynote presentation: Engaging People for Human Smart City Experiences

Architect (M.Sc.), D.Sc. (Tech), lighting designer and researcher Henrika Pihlajaniemi lectures and teaches Architectural and Urban Lighting in the Oulu School of Architecture, University of Oulu. She worked during years 1999-2005 and 2011-2013 in the University of Oulu, Department of Architecture as project leader and researcher in several research projects concerning daylighting, housing façades, participatory design and adaptive lighting. In 2016, she defended her doctoral thesis “Designing and experiencing adaptive lighting – Case studies with adaptation, interaction and participation”.

Currently, she is leading “SenCity – Intelligent lighting as a service platform for innovative cities” project in the Oulu School of Architecture.  From September 2017 onwards, she works for three years as post-doctoral researcher funded by the Academy of Finland. Her research is related to intelligent lighting and well-being in northern learning environments. Additionally, she works as lighting design consultant in her architectural office (M3 Architects).

Her completed lighting projects include intelligent and adaptive lighting, urban lighting (e.g. Lighting Masterplan for the City of Oulu, 2010), public buildings (Church of St. Andrew, 2004), dwellings, light art and luminaires. She and M3 Architects have received numerous prizes in national and international architectural and urban design competitions, and the office was nominated for the Iakov Chernikhov International Prize 2012.