The international EcoDesign Special Exhibition - The ecological handprint of the designer

Habitare 09, to be held this autumn, is bringing green values to the forefront of the design world. Finland's largest furniture, interior decoration and design event together with a special international EcoDesign exhibition will present the views of top designers on how ecological values can be taken into account at different stages in the life cycle of products, without compromising on aesthetics and ergonomics.

Professor Yrjö Kukkapuro, an internationally acclaimed designer of furniture, who for a long time has also had a great influence on Finnish design, has been invited to be curator of EcoDesign. He in turn has invited to the exhibition top-class international designers and young talents from both Finland and abroad. The invited designers have been given free rein to design an ecological chair or some other product designed for sitting on, which can be a completely new, experimental solution, a prototype or a product already in production.

The problems of sustainable development are challenging designers, manufacturers and consumers alike to consider ecological values and operating methods. The designer, more than anybody, is in a key position to influence the operating methods and materials used in the production of products. Ecological thinking brings forth new challenges, but, at the same time, offers completely new opportunities. The EcoDesign exhibition aims to highlight these matters and stimulate discussion.

As many as 81 designers or designer teams from 16 different countries have registered to take part in the exhibition. A complete list of the designers who have registered for the exhibition.

The EcoDesign Special Exhibition from the 9th to 13th of September 2009 in the Helsinki Exhibition & Convention Centre, Finland.