“The 1.5mm plywood used for the chairs was manufactured in Finland from Finnish birch trees. For making light armchair prototypes there is probably no better material in existence.”

Students:

Zsuzsanna Horvath, Henri Judin, Joel Klemetti, Anna Lampinen, Weera Luostarinen, Mirella Peltonen, Anni Pitkäjärvi, Ariane Relander, Anna Spaak, Hanna Spaak, Hanna Särökaari, Fanni Suvila, Elina Ulvio, Ines Wartiainen, Hao Wu

The students’ end results are very close to the real world, though the purpose of the exercise was not just to produce attractive and functioning products. “A successful workshop and good technical equipment and facilities make it possible to develop and experiment with knowledge about materials, but at the same time students also develop their own design philosophies. The end result is design that stands out and attracts international interest,” says furniture design professor Jouko Järvisalo.

An international group of sixteen students took the furniture design course. In addition to Finnish students, other students on the course came from Norway, Turkey, Brazil, Australia, the United States, Russia, Taiwan and Japan. The dazzling chrome plating on the chairs was done as a business cooperation project by Arvo Piiroinen Oy in Salo.

The task on the course was to design and make a simple chair out of solid birch. The students who took part come from different educational backgrounds and countries (Finland, Estonia, the USA, Russia, Japan, South Korea, and China). They approached the task in very individual ways and with very different skills and past experiences in furniture design.

The overall purpose of this exercise was for the students to obtain a basic understanding of furniture form, composition and construction. More importantly, this creative journey challenged the students to discover themselves as young designers. They were encouraged to seek out and to find their own personal style, to explore it, and to play with it. The fruits of the exercise is the exhibition Forms of a Chair.

Students:
Nina Kosonen, Natalia Baczynska Kimberley, Soh Koizum, Noora Liesimaa, Gee Park, Heun Park, Katja Rouvinen, Heidi Siitonen, Marina Smirnova, Kairit Solg, Minttu Somervuori, Maiju Uski, Caius Verhe, Wesley Walters and Yizhou Zhao.