The current model
Given that the current industry model refers to the activities of two firms, a profile of these firms and their export activities may be more beneficial than a general description of an industry export model:
1. PES Architects
PES Architects is a design firm based in Helsinki. The firm was founded by its chairman Pekka Salminen in 1968 and currently employs approximately 35 people who are based mainly in its Helsinki Office. PES Architects has previous experience working in France, Germany and Croatia but is now focused exclusively on the Chinese market which currently provides approximately 50 percent if its turnover.
PES Architects has never had a definite export strategy and has traditionally won work through architectural competitions; according to Pekka Salminen: “Eight years ago I went to China to select a stone for a building here in Finland, and I came home with a hotel project”. Although this hotel project did not materialise, they did set up a temporary office in china and began to enter architectural competitions. Subsequently they completed a number of large projects and following the completion of a high profile Opera house this year, they received their first non competitive commission.
Salminen feels that being Finnish has little to do with the appeal of his office. As most of his work has been won through architectural competitions he believes that the quality of the architecture and the design offering is more important than a Finnish brand.
Despite operating successfully in china for 8 years, PES has had a somewhat organic development. They have no non-architectural staff on their management team and they concede that in the future, money will have to be invested in developing the business in order to remain competitive. That said, at 35 people the firm is small enough that it can remain flexible should there be a lull in the Chinese workload, and therefore having a strong commercial focus is not as essential as it is for firms of a larger size.
2. Tommila Architects
Tommila Architects was founded in 1977 by its current managing director Murai Tommila. It currently employs 25 people, the majority of whom are based in its head office in Helsinki. They have experience in a range of sectors but specialise in urban planning. In recent years the focus of their international work has been on China.
Tommila Architects currently has 6 offices, one in Stockholm, one in Helsinki and four in China. Up until the mid 2000’s, international work was won mainly through architectural competitions, with additional work brought in through international commissions from existing Finnish clients. However, in the last 5 years, they have moved away from a competitions based model to one based on an integrated export team made up of a number of complimentary disciplines. This is done through a separate company DigiEcoCity, of which Mauri Tommila is the current CEO.
DigiEcoCity is a design and development firm established to build large scale urban design projects. They are a private company made up of a variety of design, technology and environmental consultants. They develop new urban centres based on technological, ecological and design
principals. Their work includes not only the traditional construction design services but also integrated technological and environmental design.
DigiEcoCity’s pilot project was the planning of a new town north of Helsinki with residential accommodation and workspace for a population of 100 000. Currently, they are developing two sites in China, each being five square kilometres in size, and each accommodating a population of 70 000. For these Chinese projects, DigiEcoCity secured the all the initial investment, procured both sites and provided all construction design services. They are designing all aspects of the city life, including municipal services, infrastructure and the local political system.
In terms of external support, Tommila Architects have never received assistance from external agencies when exporting. According to Murai Tommila, the only interaction with external agencies was to participate in architectural competitions organised by SAFA, which he felt was beneficial when Tommila Architects was starting out. Historically, all of Tommila Architects international work has been won through their own competition efforts and their own international network.
The success of DigiEcoCity has been due in a large part to indirect support from Tommilas own political network. The idea of multidisciplinary exporting has received support across political parties and last year the Tommila was part of a delegation led by the prime minister of Finland to promote Finnish exports in china. Tommila has worked closely with Finnish Minister for Trade and Employment on export strategies for Finnish services, and both of EcoDigiCities Chinese projects have received direct personal support
from the both Finnish Prime Minister and from the Vice President of China.
The emerging model
While there is no defined export strategy for the sector, SAFA have been exploring the idea of architectural exporting as a means of facilitating growth in the Finnish architectural sector. There is currently an ongoing discussion between Finnish architects, SAFA and the Ministry of Trade and Employment as to what the best export path is for Finnish architects.
1. What architects suggest:
Some Finnish architects have pointed to countries such as the Netherlands and Switzerland where a small number of star architects have developed a reputation for high quality architecture that has helped the industry overall. They feel that promotion of Finnish architecture as a high end design product would have the same effects for their own industry.
Finnish architects have also suggested a number of practical initiatives they feel would be beneficial to the industry:
Publication of an export manual or database with business intelligence information on specific growth countries. Such a database could contain information on local laws, construction practices, culture etc…
Development of international marketing channels for Finnish architecture: many firms cannot afford specific marketing and PR staff and they feel that a central architectural promotional unit would benefit the industry as a whole.
Financial support at the early project stages to help mitigate risk: architects feel that risk is too high at the early stages to warrant exporting and feel that state could supply funding that would be paid back should the project generate fees. This could be helped by greater cooperation between architectural associations in other countries to share information and thereby reduce the overall export risks.
Architects acknowledge the benefit of promoting Finnish architecture internationally but would like to see a stronger focus on directing them towards potential clients.
Architects feel that a national export strategy for the sector is important. Such a strategy should be drawn up in conjunction with the cultural institutes, educational institutes the construction industry and Finnish embassies abroad.
2. What SAFA suggest:
SAFA have also recognised the need for a unified national export strategy. They feel that first step is to develop a Finnish architectural export agency. Such a body would have the sole function of promoting Finnish architecture abroad and working with Finnish architectural firms looking to engage in the internationalisation process. This agency would combine the efforts of SAFA, ATL, the Finnish Design Museum and the Ministry for Trade and Employment. Funding such a body would be difficult but they suggest that it could be paid for partly by exporting firms and partly by Government funding.
They point to the success of the Art Industry, the Music Industry and the Gaming industry as three
examples of Finnish creative industries that promote themselves internationally through a specific export agency.
3. What the Government suggests:
The Finnish Department of Trade and Employment are currently developing an export strategy for the creative industries and they see the future of architectural exporting as an integrated part of that process. They feel that Architecture alone is not big enough to sustain its own export programme and that integrated exporting and the collective promotion of Finnish creative industries will have stronger impact. They are looking at two export models that will affect the architectural sector:
Export by Sector: This model involves exporting a particular sector and promoting all associated disciplines, of which architecture would be one. For example, primary education in Finland is currently ranked as the best in the world buy the OECD. Exporting the education sector would involve exporting not just the Finnish educational system and Finnish teaching methods, but also architectural services related school and classroom design.
Export by Project: This model involves finding a region, identifying local complimentary services and exporting them as a single project team. For example, in the northern region of Helsinki a number of firms were indentified that offered services related to garden and landscape design. This became the regional identity and firms were teamed up for a potential pilot project, which will be the development of
an urban space in central Helsinki. The team consists of all trades and disciplines from landscape designers and services engineers to street furniture suppliers and local stonemasons. If the project is successful the idea would be to then encourage relevant firms to come and set up in the region to provide a pool of expert trades and services that could be drawn on for each export project.