Now McGlynn’s clouds float the open atrium-like space at the heart of Glasshouse Helsinki.‍ “The structures are clouds made out of geometrics structures. They reflect the architecture of this space but also the natural curves of nature”, she describes.

Megan McGlynn’s assignment differs in a major way from others Glasshouse Helsinki collaborating artists projects.

Glasshouse Helsinki works with many basic industry companies and wants to connect designers and artists with these companies. Megan McGlynn was the first: she was given what she herself describes as “fabric-like, biodegrable, non-woven material” by Suominen. (Suominen is the global market leader in nonwovens for wipes in addition to being one of the biggest nonwovens manufacturers in the world.) McGlynn says that Suominen was very easy to work with and gives thanks to her contacts there who helped her during the process.

The brief by Glasshouse Helsinki’s Anna Vartiainen was to create something that gives the atrium space “an outdoor café feeling”.  For an artist and designer, getting a material and the guidelines that come with it can be both a blessing and a curse.

“It can be a huge relief that you have to build your idea around a specific point. If you can do anything in the world, you might drive yourself crazy”, McGlynn says.

When the designer first got the material, the idea was not immediately clear. “I had to go through a lot of failed tests to get to where I am now! Eventually I was thinking about clouds and started trying to put three-dimensional physicality to this material that is very difficult to work with”, McGlynn says. In her experiments she eventually started using folding and origami techniques she has used in the past.

“I started to think about origami to give structure to this very flimsy and thin material”, she says.  

McGlynn needed to add an element that would hold the fabric – to frame it in a way. She decided to use Greyboard, a material that is rigid, biodegradable and recyclable. But she still needed to find something to glue them together. Being an experimentalist, she ended up cooking wheat-based glue that street artists have used for years . “Yes, I decided to make my own glue with flour and sugar. As an experimental designer I am in the lab a lot. The internet provides a lot of amazing information”, McGlynn says with a smile.  

Her art often has architectural influences which is natural given that she has a background in architectural design. “Many of my designs have an architectural structure to them. I really love the fragmentation that happens when you can layer different geometries over each other.”

The central space in the middle of Glasshouse Helsinki connects the different rooms of the store but also is the access point to the second floor which opens later in June.

One of the challenges in her work was time: she had to finish her installation very quickly. The eye-catching clouds are an example of a job well done. McGlynn says that the size of the space helped her and helps the viewer, too.

“I realized that I need to come up with one design and repeat it several times and hang them at different levels throughout the space. The great thing about an origami-like structure is that it looks different from every angle.” “The nice thing about this space is that it has different levels. You can see the work from above and below.”