On my first and I’m sure not my last visit to Helsinki, I have been able to test things on the land that I already knew, or at least sensed; for example the fact that the tradition of design and Finnish architecture goes far beyond Alvar Aalto and that for some time, they have been escaping from under its shadow, just as naughty grandchildren sneak away from the care of their grandparent, searching for that strange midnight sun, a series of creators, who viewing themselves within tradition, have achieved contemporaneity without traumatic effect.

In addition, and this I must admit has been new for me, I have proved that the Finns are not as cold and distant as, surely influenced by simplified climate prejudices, we may have thought; the simplest warmth, the playful intimacy and also my beloved irony can be glimpsed in many of their designs, providing its refined function, a direct descendant to the historic critical regionalism, a surplus of intimacy, which without going into the histrionics of many objects (and current designers), make of their products, nice .

If all this were not enough, they are also ecological; without understanding ecology as a passing fashion, or sustainability as a circumstantial trend or a mere media label, but in a way that could almost be defined as genetic; a biophilia born of a sensitive look at one's most immediate environment which results in the certainty of its precarious balance, which is but a reflection of our own vulnerability.

For all this, thank you for your visit to Madrid and welcome.