Dezeen Magazine

Helsinki Design Week exhibition presents four of the city's emerging design talents

Helsinki Design Week is now in full swing and one of the standout exhibitions is Talentshop, which showcases furniture and homeware by four young designers based in the Finnish capital.

Helsinki Design Week is taking place until 17 September, with exhibitions and installations on show across the city. But the week-long event centres around Habitare, a furniture fair hosted at the Messukeskus exhibition centre.

Talentshop has become a regular fixture at Habitare, as an area where emerging design talents are given the opportunity to present their work to potential manufacturers, buyers and the press.

All of this year's designers are based in Helsinki, although not all of them were born in Finland.

"The aim of Talentshop is to promote up-and-coming young designers and to give them an opportunity to show their work and their thinking more broadly," said the curators, Finnish design collective Imu Design.

"The exhibition presents four designers who have a distinct style and own identity, but who are not yet widely recognised by the public," they said.

Here's a look at all four designers presenting this year.


Tero Kuitunen

Finnish designer Tero Kuitunen focuses his work on the sensation of touch, using a variety of materials to bring about different sensations. The pieces he is showing at Habitare range from a set of red clay pots to tasselled mirrors.

"I am a playful and experimental hands-on designer," he said. "I like haptic aspects in design that the object touches you at some level or that you'd like to touch it."


Erin Turkoglu

Turkish-born Erin Turkoglu works across a variety of practices. She studied industrial design before moving into furniture, ending up at Helsinki's Aalto University for her masters. Now, she also creates small ceramic pieces and home accessories to accompany her stripped-back furniture pieces.

"As a designer I am a maker, storyteller and probably a colourist too," she said. "I love different materials and techniques and at Aalto, I have been trying out everything from textiles to plastics. It motivates and inspires me the most."


Saija Halko

Finnish designer Saija Halko studied ceramic and glass design at Aalto University. Her work focuses on natural materials, such as volcanic rock, which she uses to create bowls and vessels.

"As a designer, I am sensitive, research-oriented and meticulous," she said. "Ceramic as a material is very challenging, it keeps me alert. In my works I also use volcanic ash, which I collect myself in the Faroe Islands."


Aoi Yoshizawa

Aoi Yoshizawa was born in Japan, but is now based in Helsinki. Unlike the other designers profiled in Talentshop, she works with textiles – creating boldly patterned and coloured pieces for both interiors and fashion.

"As a designer, I am drawn into different materials, colours and surfaces," she said. "In my works, like textiles or wallpapers, I merge abstract forms and colours with moods, experiences and memories."