The International Friend’s Habitare choices

Alice Rawsthorn, The International Friend of Habitare has chosen the most exciting products and phenomena from the fair offering. Habitare is open until Sunday at Messukeskus Helsinki.

THE MOST INTERESTING STANDS
YHES eatery (Asun, Nikari, Lokal) 6m129
Matri 6e131
Marimekko 6a109
Gymstick International (Fitrocks) 7m40

(Matri Stand 6e131)

THE MOST INTERESTING PRODUCT
Yuka Takahashi ADB&B multifunctional furniture. On display in EcoDesign Special Exhibition 7m11.
“Yuka Yakahashi’s multifunctional seat-cum-sofa-cum-bed-cum-bench is a great example of the versatile and adaptable furniture that is becoming increasingly popular.”

MATERIAL
Copper (for excemple Kitzen 6c111)
“Copper is a beautiful material, which becomes even more appealing as it ages and acquires a patina. Kitzen has developed new ways of treating and sealing copper for use in a sink and taps.”

PHENOMENON
Plootu furniture 6g149
“Plootu has launched a new scheme at Habitare whereby it promises to buy back any of the products it sells for half the original purchase price if they are returned within two years. This is a clever way of preventing unwanted furniture from being dumped.”

CONCEPT
Fasetti, Hiort af Ornäs reproduction 6f148
“Designed by Carl Gustav Hjort af Ornäs in 1952, the Siesta has been reintroduced by Fasetti. Wide choice of upholstery fabrics and woods. It is light and compact enough to work in a contemporary setting.”

NEXT “future”
Arkkitehtuurimuseo/ Museum of Finnish Architecture 6c101
“The next major exhibition at the Museum of Architecture will be on the 1960s, and the curators used their stand at Habitare as a way of giving people insights into the show and inviting them to contribute their memories or impressions of the decade.”

Alice Rawsthorn
Rawsthorn writes on design for the International New York Times and for the art magazine Frieze. She has spoken about design at a number of international events, such as TED and the annual meetings of the World Economic Forum in Davos in Switzerland. Based in London, Rawsthorn is chair of the board of trustees at the Chisenhale Gallery and the contemporary dance group Michael Clark Company, and a trustee of the Whitechapel Gallery. Her latest book, Hello World: Where Design Meets Life, explores design’s influence on our lives in the past, present and future. Rawsthorn received an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to design and the arts in 2014.

(Kitzen 6c111)

More information:
Communications manager Johanna Suni tel. + 358 40 515 4216, johanna.suni@messukeskus.com
PHOTOS: Messukeskus Mediabank, International Friend’s choices

Habitare offers experiences, ideas, and information about interior decoration, and about the functioning and look of homes and other spaces. The biggest single event of Helsinki Design week, Habitare, will be held at Messukeskus in Helsinki from 7 to 11 September 2016. To be held concurrently with Habitare are the professional events Forma and Showroom, by Helsinki Design Week, and the public events ArtHelsinki, Antiikki, HifiExpo, and ValoLight. www.habitare.fi | @HabitareFair | www.facebook.com/habitare | #habitare2016 |