Architecture & Design Museum, Helsinki — Building D
10 October 2025 – 27 September 2026
Where refuge meets imagination
“Escape to Moominvalley” explores how we build, imagine, and remember home. Opening at the Architecture & Design Museum in Helsinki, the exhibition journeys through the life and world of Tove Jansson, who began creating the Moomins during the turmoil of World War II, a time when many, like her, longed for safety and belonging.
Through drawings, models, and immersive environments, visitors step into the spaces that shaped Jansson’s stories, from her Helsinki atelier to her tiny island of Klovharu, and into the Moominvalley she imagined as a refuge from fear and loss.
Stories of home and displacement
The exhibition follows the arc from Jansson’s personal spaces to fictional landscapes that embody universal human needs: shelter, warmth, and togetherness.
Her first book, The Moomins and the Great Flood (1945), tells of a family displaced by disaster, searching for a place to rebuild their lives. Decades later, that story still speaks to the experiences of millions forced to flee their homes, and to Better Shelter’s mission: creating safe, dignified spaces for people on the move.
Architecture as storytelling
“Escape to Moominvalley” highlights how architecture shapes our sense of security, community, and identity. Alongside Jansson’s sketches and dioramas, the exhibition features contemporary architects and designers exploring similar questions, from temporary shelters to experimental forms of communal living.
Better Shelter is honoured to contribute to this conversation, offering a tangible example of how design can restore stability and dignity in moments of crisis.
Why this matters
Tove Jansson’s stories remind us that home is not just a place, but a feeling we carry, built from care, imagination, and resilience.
Through her worlds, and through the shelters we build today, we continue to ask:
What does it mean to feel safe? What does it mean to belong?
Plan your visit
Location: Building D, Architecture & Design Museum, Helsinki
Dates: 10 October 2025 – 27 September 2026
Admission: Museum ticket (see admuseo.fi for details)
Learn more about the exhibition on the Architecture & Design Museum website.
