Ilkka Suppanen

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lkka Suppanen is one of the best-known contemporary Finnish designers. He has studied architecture at the Technical University of Helsinki and Interior and Furniture Design at the University of Art and Design Helsinki. In 1995, he founded Studio Suppanen. Ilkka Suppanen has also taught design at the University of Art and Design Helsinki since 1996. His constant interest in production techniques and new materials and usages can be seen in many of his works. His expression is light, forward-looking, yet classically Scandinavian. Ilkka Suppanen has received many international awards including the Swedish Bruno Mathsson Prize in 2006. Suppanen’s work has been exhibited worldwide including shows at the Venice Architecture Biennale, the Milan Furniture Fair and MoMA in New York. His works have been widely covered by the international press and publications and are also part of the permanent collections of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and the Museum für Angewandte Kunst in Cologne to name a few. His Helsinki-based design studio works across different media and on different scales, in graphics, product design, furniture, interiors and architecture. For Ilkka Suppanen design is based on a rigorous understanding of and a desire for contemporary culture. Production, in turn, is based on a collective group of criteria: capital investment, market share, ease of production, dissemination, growth potential, distribution, maintenance, service, performance, quality, ecological issues and sustainability. The combination of these factors shapes our objects, our physical space and our contemporary human experience by informing our forms and our visual culture. These constructs further shape business, identity, brand and value. This is what Studio Suppanen does. It is poetry of manufacturing and life: Design. “Our commitment to tackling the challenges of today’s living and working conditions leads us to constantly experiment with new ideas, materials and technologies. It encourages us to look beyond the conventional forms and to find new ways to support today’s behavior.”

CANARY

Canary light combines LED technology with an innovative structure made of plastic and aluminum. Based on a single J-shaped piece of molded plastic, the design of the lamp can be turned into a series of varying sizes and shapes. Reminiscent of a venetian blind in its way of letting light through, the lightweight pendant lamp provides warm, yet bright light. Its energy consumption equals approximately 10 % of that of a regular bulb and 20 % of a compact fluorescent bulb. Canary is manufactured by Koizumi, one of Japan’s biggest companies producing lighting fixtures.