On thin ice

"Unknowingly, I have already adopted many qualities important to a designer as a child. Here are a few of them and a little more in the form of stories."

"I have had the pleasure of receiving several recognitions related to my profession during my long career. I am often asked what the awards mean to me. 20 x Good Design Award, 3 x Green Good Design Award, Kaj Franck Prize, Pro Finlandia, Furniture Designer of the Year, etc. - I would lie, if I said that they don't mean anything. However, you can't eat them, and you can't sit on them, but they come in handy."

"We all have that older grandmother who has washed and collected yogurt jars, bread bags as well as their closures. Our grandparents didn't throw anything away and all the items were repaired and used as long as possible. Here lies a great wisdom that we can learn from today - maybe more than we even guess."

"The word 'responsibility' is worn out and something else should be invented", "Nowadays everyone is responsible", "Responsibility is now fashionable" and "Responsibility and carbon footprint calculation are becoming passé" are statements we hear nowadays repeatedly. Are things really this good?

“Our ancestors had an innate sense of practical aesthetics and were forced to live side by side with nature, whether they wanted to or not. The use of materials was developed to its top and the next generation improved on the innovations of the previous one. Can a designer learn from this?”