The Kaj Franck Design Prize 2009
Artist Professor, industrial designer Hannu Kähönen
Industrial designer, Artist Professor Hannu Kähönen (born 1948) has been chosen to receive the Kaj Franck Design Prize of 2009. Hannu Kähönen graduated in 1971 from the University of Art and Design Helsinki. He is a versatile expert in design, whose perspective ranges from the practical design work to national design policy. He has helped to develop the field through his work in national and international positions of trust. Hannu Kähönen has also written about design and has taught design at the university level.
According to the unanimous view of the prize jury, Hannu Kähönen's oeuvre reflects in a beautiful manner the industrial aesthetic, and its core ideas are knowledge of materials, the usability of products, their accessibility and recyclability. Through his own career of over thirty years as an entrepreneur in design, Hannu Kähönen has become widely familiar with the needs of business making use of design. Especially in recent years, Kähönen has concentrated on material-based product development and environmental issues.
Now awarded for the 18th time, the Kaj Franck Design Prize has achieved unreserved popularity among design professionals, the media and the public. The prize jury of 2009 consisted of CEO Pentti Kivinen of the Finnish Fair Foundation, Rector Helena Hyvönen of the University of Art and Design Helsinki, Professor and designer Heikki Orvola, designer and Kaj Franck expert Tauno Tarna, and CEO Mikko Kalhama of Design Forum Finland.
Press release and press images
CV Hannu Kähönen
