21 September 2011
Shanghai honorary award to Professor Yrjö Sotamaa
Aalto University, Finland – Tongji University, China
News, 9/7/2011 | Consulate General of Finland, Shanghai
Shanghai honorary award to Professor Yrjö Sotamaa
On Friday 9 September, the City of Shanghai will present the honorary Magnolia Awards. The Magnolia Award is conferred to foreign citizens who have contributed to Shanghai’s cooperation with other countries as well as to its economic and social development. The recipients of the award are entitled to the designation of Honorary Citizen of Shanghai.
This year’s Magnolia Silver Award will be awarded to Professor Yrjö Sotamaa together with 46 other foreign citizens in a grand ceremony at the Shanghai Xijiao Guest House. This year’s Magnolia Silver Award will be awarded to Professor Yrjö Sotamaa together with 46 other foreign citizens in a grand ceremony at the Shanghai Xijiao Guest House.
Professor Sotamaa is a long-standing President of the University of Art and Design Helsinki (1986-2008). He serves on the Board of the Sino-Finnish Centre established together by Aalto-yliopisto and Tongji University in Shanghai. Its first phase is the Aalto-Tongji Design Factory. Yrjö Sotamaa is also the main representative of the Helsinki World Design Capital 2012 project in China. In 2008, Professor Sotamaa was appointed the president of an international team that drafted the proposal for the College of Design and Innovation (D&I) to be established at Tongji University. In 2009, he was appointed the Advisory Dean and board member of the D&I. The college is a part of the ambitious creative industry development programme of the city of Shanghai.
While the Magnolia Award is a personal honorary award to Professor Sotamaa, it also gives stature to Finnish design and collaboration between institutions of higher education that he has commendably promoted in China. The award will help to increase the visibility of the Helsinki World Design Capital 2012 project in China in 2012 and to expand the cooperation between the countries in developing innovative design that creates better life.