January saw the start of the second phase of the architectural design competition for the new building on the Otaniemi campus. Six finalists are currently working on their designs for the building, which will mainly be used by the School of Arts, Design and Architecture. The submission deadline for designs is 15 May 2013. The winner will be announced during the summer, after which construction planning will begin. Aalto ARTS will move into the new facilities in 2016, and preparation of the project plan is due to begin in the next few days.

The ARTS Spatial Café is an informal and irregularly recurring event, where students and staff can meet the Aalto people working on our new school. The first ARTS Spatial Café welcomes you to come and discuss the move to Otaniemi and the planning of the new school in the Café Meccala meeting room on Wednesday 27 March, from 2 pm to 3 pm. The coffee will be served by Tapio Koskinen, who is overseeing the development of the ARTS facilities for learning and research. The next ARTS Spatial Café events will take place at the same time, in the same venue on Wednesday 3 April and Wednesday 10 April.