Simo Heikkilä, 63, a furniture designer and exhibition architect from Jyväskylä, states that knowing and accepting traditions adds continuity and security to creative work. I am a Finn, on my home ground, and living in a small town allows me to continuously perceive what is going on around me.
It is not a coincidence that Heikkiläs furniture line is called Periferia design. He wants to express that living at some distance from hectic city centres is not a negative thing. The original meaning of the word Periphery refers to the outer circle. I find a positive ring to the word periphery, Periferia, can be the home of creativity.
Heikkilä manifests his appreciation for locality by networking with local craftsmen, who implement the designers unique designs or make prototypes of items to be taken into industrial production. His interest in various forms of local culture has led Heikkilä to interesting tasks. He has, for example, led a leuku knife workshop with Sami craftsmen and a product development project in Karelia.
Simo Heikkilä is known for carrying on Scandinavian design traditions. Clarity, simplicity and visible structures are typical features of his designs.
Particularly known as a chair designer, Heikkilä also emphasises ergonomics. The understanding of good ergonomic features is an automatic, inbuilt characteristic in his design work. Similarly, layout and composition are key aspects in the design of public and exhibition premises.
When I was a student I participated in a general design course taught by designer Kaj Franck. It was one of the most important topics and a very influential course. I believe that everyone who was familiarised with the Bauhaus-school design learned the meaning of balance between materials, surfaces, colours and lines.
Simo Heikkilä grew up in post-war Finland. It was the golden era of Finnish design. Design was present in the everyday life of the Heikkilä family in the form of tableware.
The co-operation with the newly established industry and designers generated good results. Those were good times for innovation and creative thinking. Heikkilä became increasingly interested in artefacts and their design during the summers he spent in the countryside.
The tools used for household chores were clearly pragmatic, but some items, like hay-making tools, were also beautiful.
Heikkilä has a critical attitude towards manic consumption and love for products. He has set up exhibitions displaying utilities made of recycled parts. One of his exhibitions was based on a poll he conducted among people, asking which items they find to be the most important in their everyday life.
At the end of the day, the number of such items is relatively small. People seem to purchase masses of new things just to alleviate some feelings of insecurity. Heikkilä also criticises the so-called creativity boom manifested in an abundance of seminars and strategies.
I believe that people have started to talk about creativity because they have noticed that something is missing in the environment. The proportion of crafts has been cut in school programmes, and creative industries have also found themselves in a hurry. With arts, failure is always possible and risks must be taken. However, in todays world, failure is not an option you should get everything right at once. In light of all this, Heikkilä prefers to talk about developing visual and aesthetic quality and utilising peoples creative capacity.
Heikkilä is currently the Director of the Wood Studio at the University of Art and Design Helsinki. This unit, which focuses on applied use of wood, offers him a great position to support young designers.
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- Born in Helsinki in 1943 - Graduated as an interior architect, University of Art and Design Helsinki in 1967 and started working as a designer for the Finnish company Marimekko - Established his own studio in 1971 - Received a government 15-year artist grant in 1989 - Was named Furniture Designer Of The Year and granted the Pro Finlandia medal in 2003 - Has also received a number of other grants and awards - Heikkiläs designs are featured in several international furniture collections, such as the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York
-------- Photo 2 (below): These kitchen knives are manufactured from carbon steel and curly birch. (Photo: Simo Heikkilä)
Photo 3 (below): Coffee cups made from Finnish wood. (Photo: Rune Snellman)
Photo 4 (below): The Isko ja Asku bench is made of old pieces of furniture from rival firms. (Photo: Pentti Hakala)
By Pia Tervoja Photos by Petteri Kivimäki unless otherwise stated