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The Kaj Franck Design Prize 2011: Interior Architect Simo Heikkilä
The Kaj Franck Design Prize of 2011 has been awarded to interior architect, Professor Simo Heikkilä.
Interior architect, designer and lecturer Simo Heikkilä set up his own studio in 1971 and he has also acted as the Director of Aalto University’s Wood Studio. In its statement the prize jury notes that with his humorous touch, Heikkilä has guided young people towards an ecological and practical use of material. In his own work he has freely combined various materials and created honest production in which the details of the structures are often openly displayed. Heikkilä is a furniture designer who is known as a keen producer of Finnish design. He also designs small items such as knives and sauna and bathroom items, and he is also recognised as an exhibition designer. Simo Heikkilä is operator with an international network. He has, for example, contributed to the launch of the international “Design for Architecture” design seminar. Every third year the event gathers operators from the fields of design and architecture from around the world in Jyväskylä.
The Kaj Franck Design Prize was awarded this year for the 20th time and it has gained vast popularity among design professionals, the media, and the public. The members of the prize jury in 2011 were CEO Pentti Kivinen of the Finnish Fair Foundation; Dean Helena Hyvönen of the School of Art and Design of the Aalto University; designer, Professor Heikki Orvola; Kaj Franck expert, designer Tauno Tarna; and CEO Mikko Kalhama of Design Forum Finland.
The Kaj Franck Design Prize, established in 1992, maintains the legacy of highly esteemed designer Kaj Franck (1911–1989), who is known as the “Conscience of Finnish Design”. The winners of the prize represent many areas of top Finnish design, such as furniture, fashion, textiles, ceramics, glass, and industrial design. The prize sum of €10,000 is donated by the Finnish Fair Foundation. The prize also includes a medal designed by Tapio Junno, and an exhibition, with accompanying publications, which will open on 11 November 2011 at the Design Museum, now for the first time.
Kaj Franck Design Prize 2011 – Simo Heikkilä 11.11.–23.12.2011
Design Museum, Korkeavuorenkatu 23, Helsinki
www.designforum.fi/kajfranck
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