Projects per year
Organisation profile
Organisation profile
Empirica is an interdisciplinary research group where practices of art, design, and craft are used as vehicles of inquiry. We nurture a rigorous but open-minded research environment that accommodates diverse ways of being, knowing, and doing. By adopting the attitude of a craftsperson, we value the operational role of subjective and situated experiences in our various investigative processes. Each member brings along a set of personal, cultural, and disciplinary qualities that form the building blocks of the plural perspective prevailing in the group.
Central to Empirica’s approach is the reflexive character of creative practice, which becomes an important tool to challenge ourselves and others not only creatively but also intellectually. Documentation and reflection are thus essential in rendering our personal knowledge open, transparent, and explicit. Without limiting ourselves to disciplinary boundaries or topics, we persistently develop our art of research by theorizing, experimenting, prototyping, speculating, and (re)inventing ways to investigate empirical phenomena.
The group’s current research foci include making and materiality, creative practices and pedagogies, and world-making processes that extend beyond individual agencies to encompass multiple modes of social and environmental co-existence. These lines of inquiry allow us to openly invite different collaborators and promote a critical approach to knowledge production through diverse research formats. By communicating our research via articles, workshops, seminars, and exhibitions, we aim to cultivate an inclusive mindset and share our philosophy with various publics.
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Profiles
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Gianluca Giabardo
- School of Arts, Design and Architecture
- Department of Design - Visitor (Faculty)
- Empirica
Person: Doctoral Student , Visiting Scholar
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Kati Sara Sanelma Hulkkonen
- Department of Design - Doctoral Researcher
- School of Arts, Design and Architecture
- Empirica - Doctoral Researcher
Person: Doctoral students, Doctoral Student
Projects
- 3 Finished
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MakerStudioPeda: Materiality, maker practices and design studio pedagogy at the digital age
Mäkelä, M. (Principal investigator)
01/09/2020 → 31/08/2024
Project: RCF Academy Project
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3D KERA (Mäkelä)
Mäkelä, M. (Principal investigator)
01/07/2019 → 31/03/2020
Project: Business Finland: Other research funding
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Ceramics and its Dimensions
Mäkelä, M. (Principal investigator)
01/11/2014 → 30/11/2018
Project: EU: Other research funding
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Aalto University 15 years: Radical Ceramics: Rethinking Geopolymers
Mäkelä, M., Leveinen, J., Falin, P. & Lautenbacher, N., 8 Jan 2025Research output: Artistic and non-textual form › Exhibition › Art in coproduction
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AeRaTe
Vera Monge, A., 5 May 2025Research output: Artistic and non-textual form › Exhibition › Art in coproduction › peer-review
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AeRaTe
Hulkkonen, K. S. S., 5 May 2025Research output: Artistic and non-textual form › Exhibition › Art in coproduction › peer-review
Datasets
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Creatures Experimental Productions
Sáez Agurto, F. (Creator), Beavers, I. (Creator), Altarriba Bertran, F. (Creator), Botero, A. (Creator), Buschmann, J. (Creator), Camino, D. (Creator), Chewie (Creator), Choi, J.H.-J. (Creator), Davis, H. (Creator), Seaweed, D. O. (Creator), Dolejšová, M. (Creator), Hanafi, A. (Creator), Heitlinger, S. (Creator), Howse, M. (Creator), Knopp, T. (Creator), L'Huillier, N. (Creator), Light, A. (Creator), Lohmann, J. (Creator), Magic, M. (Creator), Miller, M. (Creator), Mitro, M. (Creator), Mujica, P. (Creator), Patterson, A. G. (Creator), Pokrywka, A. (Creator), Graham Raven, P. (Creator), Rudd, G. (Creator), Schubert, T. (Creator), Smrekar, M. (Creator), Šutić, G. (Creator), Thornton, C. (Creator), Wallis, L. (Creator), Wilde, D. (Creator) & Cathlow, R. (Creator), Zenodo, 2022
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7460561, https://zenodo.org/record/7460690
Dataset
Prizes
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2024 Ziman Award: CreaTures (Creative Practices for Transformational Futures) project
Mattelmäki, T. (Recipient), Botero, A. (Recipient), Dolejšová, M. (Recipient), Lohmann, J. (Recipient), Hakio, K. (Recipient), Singhal, G. (Recipient), Vize, S. (Recipient) & Chun, N. (Recipient), Jul 2024
Prize: Award or honor granted for a specific work
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Finnish Association of Architects Award for Advancing Ecological Architecture
Suomi, M. (Recipient) & Koivisto, E. (Recipient), 2024
Prize: Award or honor granted for a specific work
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Helsinki City Award
Reuter, J. (Supervising professor), Suomi, M. (Advisor) & Pentikäinen, S. (Recipient), 11 Dec 2023
Prize: Award or honor granted for a specific work
Activities
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Exploring the volcanic landscape
Vera Monge, A. (Speaker)
5 May 2025Activity: Talk or presentation types › Conference presentation
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AeRaTe Exhibition and Symposium
Koivisto, E. (Member), Meriläinen, A. (Member), Blanchette, C. (Member), Vera Monge, A. (Member) & Torrey, M. (Member)
5 May 2025 → 12 May 2025Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Membership of an organizing committee or other positions of trust of a conference or a seminar
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Sensing Common Grounds. Towards Collaborative Speculation. (Symposium)
Tikka, E. (Speaker)
14 Nov 2024Activity: Talk or presentation types › Conference presentation
Press/Media
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Kertakäyttökulttuurin pitää loppua Helsingissä
21/11/2024
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Media appearance
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Finimalism Journal: Perspective: Maiju Suomi, architect
01/04/2024
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Media appearance
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Martin Lang: From green rivers to contaminated soil
07/11/2023
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Media appearance