Harri Koskinen to receive major design award

Harri Koskinen

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Finnish designer Harri Koskinen has been named as the recipient of the 2009 Torsten and Wanja Söderberg Prize.
      The value of the Swedish award is one million Swedish krona, or around EUR 93,000. The prize is regarded as one of the largest and most significant design awards in the world.
      The prize committee justified their decision by saying that Harri Koskinen was “one of the foremost designers now occupied with the task of continuing the Nordic design tradition”.
      “His extensive, wide-ranging body of work has a unique, austere design that is consistently expressed with clear Nordic roots in its demands for good function and simplicity of form, as well as in the choice of materials”, the committee continued.
      “At the same time as he enjoys successful partnerships with design-intensive companies around the world, he is also participating in the renewal of his homeland’s design industry.”
     
Koskinen, whom Helsingin Sanomat managed to reach over the telephone from Sweden, says that the prize came to him as a surprise.
      “One never knows in advance based on which criteria prizes are awarded. But this is great. Absolutely.”
      Some of the prize money Koskinen plans to use for free artistic activities.
      "Issey Miyake has kept suggesting for some time now that I should go to one island in Japan to work with the locals.”
     
Harri Koskinen, who was born in 1970, is currently one of the best-known Finnish designers in the world.
      During his career he has been awarded for example the esteemed Italian Compasso d'Oro Prize and the Pro Finlandia medal.
      Koskinen has designed watches for Issey Miyake, speakers for Genelec, fabric patterns for Marimekko, and lighting fixtures for Venini.
      His most famous product is the glass-tile shaped Block Lamp.
      His more recent production includes a furniture range that was introduced in connection with the recently-ended Milan Furniture Fair 2009.
      Koskinen is also working on a suburban housing concept in cooperation with an international house manufacturer.
     
The Torsten and Wanja Söderberg Prize is awarded annually to a Nordic designer or artisan. The prize committee consists of Nordic experts.
      The prize ceremony will take place in Gothenburg on November 4th.
      A related exhibition will be organised at the Röhsska Museum.


Links:
  Huippu Design Management Press Release (.pdf file)
  Harri Koskinen website
  Block Lamp

Helsingin Sanomat