Young Designer of the Year 2001:
Eeva Lithovius, Karola Sahi
Young Designer of the Year 2001 prize went to two furniture designers and interior architects, Eeva Lithovius and Karola Sahi, who have created interiors, furniture and lamps and light fittings both jointly and separately. With its choice, the prize jury particularly wished to note the designers’ work in home interiors and furniture reflecting the needs and daily habits of modern families with small children in a fresh and straightforward way. In exhibitions on the theme of the home held by the HIMA group, Eeva Lithovius and Karola Sahi have boldly raised the appreciation of the material culture of the home among young designers. HIMA is a group of designers founded by Eeva Lithovius and having a varying number of members. The home is an untrendy area of furniture and interior design, but these young designers have had faith in their own interest and concepts – with fresh, high-standard results.
Eeva Lithovius
Eeva Lithovius (b. 1965) graduated as an interior architect from the University of Art and Design Helsinki in 1994. After graduating, she worked for a few years as a freelance designer before establishing her own design office, Elsa Oy. Lithovius has designed furniture, interiors, exhibitions and fair departments. She has been an active member of the HIMA group, which has received a great deal of positive attention for its designs with their clear emphasis on practical considerations. One her most recent projects was interior design in collaboration with Karola Sahi on the theme Scandinavia@home for the Skanska company at the Bo01 Fair in Malmö.
Eeva Lithovius stresses good workmanship, durability, practical considerations and clarity in her work. She does not subscribe to the idea of designing to achieve originality alone or to follow passing fads. The projects of Lithovius’s office will keep her busy in the future. One of her objectives is to design furniture for production in series.
Karola Sahi
Karola Sahi (b. 1965) graduated as an architect from the Tampere University of Technology in 1993. After working for several architect’s offices she established her own office Aksa Oy, in 1996. As a member of the HIMA group Sahi has also been able to work in furniture design, her other area of professional interest.
Ecological considerations and timelessness are important to Karola Sahi’s works. The starting point of a successful design is its right to exist. A ready-made object or design must be the most durable solution possible for the need or problem for which it was designed. Means to achieve durability include the choice of materials and manufacturing methods. A further aim is to establish harmony by combining spatial and furniture design.
Alongside her work as a designer, Karola Sahi is also actively involved in many aspects of architecture and design. She teaches at the University of Art and Design Helsinki and in August 2001 she was appointed to the editorial council of Arkkitehti – the Finnish Architectural Review.
