Habitare Protos 2025 offers a fascinating view into the product ideas and thinking of emerging designers. The prototypes showcased in the exhibition reflect a deep interest in materials, as well as questions of meaning and sustainability. These young designers aim to create objects that challenge traditional notions of beauty – objects that become significant and personal to their users.
Habitare Protos curated by Imu Design
Imu Design has been responsible for curating and producing the exhibition. This year’s jury also included Habitare’s Creative Lead Päivi Helander and, as a rotating member, designer Rasmus Palmgren, who was seen in the Habitare Talentshop exhibition in 2019.
“The designers selected for Habitare Protos share an interest in materials and their processing through the creative process, allowing the material to guide towards the end result. They aim to design objects that become important and meaningful to their users, thereby addressing the challenges of sustainable development,” say the exhibition curators Elina Aalto and Saara Renvall of Imu Design.
The young designers of the Habitare Protos 2025 group exhibition are:
Estelle Bourdet & Mari Koppanen, Eevi Hautanen & Emilia Lonka, Kirsikka Heiskari, Jade Huculak, Ossi Karvonen, Josh Krute, Janne Pärssinen, Annika Tuovinen, and Rita Vaali.
INTERWOVEN CULTURES | Estelle Bourdet & Mari Koppanen
Interwoven Cultures is a collaborative research project by designers Estelle Bourdet and Mari Koppanen that combines bacterial cellulose with traditional hand weaving. It explores the relationship between craftsmanship and innovative materials through the lens of experimental textile design.
Estelle Bourdet is a Swiss-Swedish weaver and textile designer merging traditional craftsmanship with contemporary aesthetics. Mari Koppanen is a designer and researcher working at the intersection of material innovation and contemporary craft.
estellebourdet.com @estellebourdet I marikoppanen.com @mari.koppanen
PUILO | Eevi Hautanen & Emilia Lonka
Puilo is a lighting series which was born from weekly visits to the hardware store and improvisation. Everyday building supplies and spare parts gained new meanings as colors, shapes and materials opened up a new world of alternative uses. The series is a result of improvisation: a combination of hardware store and everyday aesthetics combined with clear basic shapes and colors. Delicate handmade paper and cord form a contrast to the otherwise rough materials.
Eevi Hautanen and Emilia Lonka are a spatial and furniture design duo who have spent the past years primarily working in spatial design. While hands-on building has always been a big part of their design practice, a new opportunity for daily woodworking has opened a new chapter in their creative process. It has sparked the courage to explore, and the freedom to create and experiment without a specific goal — allowing for a sincere form of creative improvisation. All objects designed together by Eevi and Emilia share a process in which the final outcome is a mystery. They trust that each step will lead in a new, unpredictable direction. Through a spirit of ease, humour, and integrity, they create objects that embody these same values.
eevihautanen.com @eeviorvokki I @emilialonka
SULAKRUUNU | Kirsikka Heiskari
Sulakruunu is a rich modular candle chandelier made from borosilicate glass, inspired by Murano chandeliers and melting candle wax. Crafted using lampworking techniques, Sulakruunu consists of multiple parts shaped by torch which can be assembled in countless configurations. In use, fire once again becomes part of the object, with melting wax adding to the flowing forms – ultimately merging together into one whole.
Kirsikka Heiskari’s work is guided by a joy of discovery and an urge to challenge materials. Experimentation, happy accidents, intuition, and play are reflected by a lightness of character in the objects she designs. Form is born from a cooperation between material and hands, its aim a straightforward sense of balance.
@kirsikkatuuli
AURA | Jade Huculak
Aura is a chair which combines a wooden frame with a soft textile seat that conforms to the body of the person sitting. Guided by intuition and material exploration, the design focuses on longevity, creating an object that fosters respect and connection with its user. Aura is a deeply personal project that represents Jade’s values as a designer. It balances aesthetics with comfort, producing an object with a soul.
Jade Huculak is a Belgian furniture design student pursuing her master’s in interior architecture at Aalto University. She is passionate about human-centric design, sustainability, and an honest use of materials. Jade’s design language embodies simplicity, intuition, and attention to detail. She strives to engage the senses and enhance everyday living spaces.
@jadehuculak.design
TAVERN | Ossi Karvonen
Tavern is a chair that explores the interaction between simple elements and materials. Its form language plays with architectural archetypes, while closer inspection reveals an organic character. The material, created through a pressing technique combining birch plywood and cork, is a surprising combination, even though the components themselves are familiar. Tavern’s ingenuity lies in its ability to blend into its surroundings without becoming invisible.
Ossi Karvonen is a designer who approaches design as a form of visual storytelling. In Karvonen’s narratives, the setting is introduced first, followed by the object. He seeks to uncover stories in places where none seem to exist, and in materials not typically associated with storytelling. Through design, Karvonen explores the principles that shape our world and the relationships between people and their surroundings. For him, a story resonates most when the relationship between material and form is unexpected.
@ossi.jalmari
PROOF | Josh Krute
Proof-kokoelman syntyä on tukenut Wave Layered Timber Capital.
Proof – a proof of concept – is a collection of furniture objects crafted from WLTC-profiled pine timber. Guided by the material’s unique profile, each piece evolves through its organic patterns and interlocking, wavy structures. This process strikes a refined balance between form and function, transforming simple timber into collectible objects that explore shape, rhythm, and movement.
Josh Krute is a Helsinki-based designer and maker reimagining timber not just as a traditional craft material, but as a dynamic, evolving element that shapes the design process. His work explores the natural qualities of wood – its grain, texture, and form – pushing its boundaries across furniture, textiles, and art objects. By embracing a process-driven approach, Krute creates works that feel both timeless and contemporary, expanding the possibilities of wood in design.
The Proof collection is supported by Wave Layered Timber Capital.
krutedesign.com I @josh_krute_studio
KAAMOS I MANEERI | Janne Pärssinen
Kaamos is a sculptural floor or table lamp made from stainless steel. Its curved, tubular form directs a beam of light toward the wall or ceiling, creating indirect and atmospheric light that plays on the surfaces of the space. The bold shape of the lamp, combined with its gradient finish achieved through a heat treatment process, makes it a striking visual element—even when not in use.
Maneeri is a hybrid between a small shelf and a hook, offering a storage spot for small everyday items. Its form draws inspiration from humanist typography. The negative space created through the bending process serves as a playful visual element and an honest expression of the manufacturing technique used. The shelf is made of 3 mm aluminum and anodized in beautifully muted tones.
Janne Pärssinen is a designer who seeks insightful applications for industrial manufacturing methods. His designs are often everyday objects that aim to occupy the grey area between conventional product categories. Central to Janne’s approach is human-centered thinking, which leads to the discovery of new functions.
janneparssinen.com I @janneparssinen
PÄRE | Annika Tuovinen
The Päre lamp is an interpretation of a Finnish craft tradition and its cultural continuum, where material and immaterial folklore meet. It raises the question: how can we honor history in an ecologically and socially sustainable way while preserving the essence of valuable craftsmanship in a changing world? A material, which once was a necessity of everyday life, is now a conscious choice – a way to reflect on the relationship between tradition, sustainability and design. The Päre lamp tells the story of a light source and a basket-weaving technique familiar to Finns, illustrating how design can serve as a means of cultural preservation while adapting to new generations.
Annika Tuovinen is a MA student in interior architecture at Aalto University. Her work is guided by the nature of materials, sustainability perspectives and cultural history. She is fascinated by contrast – the dialogue of opposites on the levels of form, material and value. Lately, she has been reflecting on the significance of design through conscious and subconscious awareness: what makes objects valuable to their users and worthy of care?
@tuoannika
SOLMU | Rita Vaali
Solmu is a jacquard-woven blanket inspired by patchwork quilts. The aim was to reinterpret the idea of a quilt and to recreate the characteristic variation of textures and three-dimensionality using the jacquard technique. The fabric structures developed for the blanket are influenced by the stitches and quilt knots that bind the quilt’s layers together. The quilt knots are repeated in the woven fabric as long weft floats, which are finished by hand. The diagonal stripe texture is created through the fabric structure.
Rita Vaali is a textile designer and visual artist. Her work is characterized by a strong visual expression and a deep engagement with the techniques that she uses. Rita works with a variety of materials and methods, but in recent years her focus has been on textiles and weaving. Weaving techniques provide an endlessly rich source of new ideas and a way to convey concepts. Interpreting phenomena and subjects in a playful and insightful manner is typical of Rita’s work.
ritavaali.com I @rit.vaa
