Saturday, December 13, 2014

New fire to your interior decoration


This is not a pipe but a tea light holder.
Photo©Sami Repo

Fashion designer Samu-Jussi Koski has now also a homeware collection of his own and a brand new tiny shop in Helsinki.
The selection of Samuji KOTI offers to you for example the most beautiful vases, textiles, red clay ceramics, candles and lovely soaps made in Helsinki.
Samuji KOTI
Mikonkatu 1, Helsinki.


Monday, December 8, 2014

Christmas à la chef Mannerström

The easiest way to enjoy Scandinavian Christmas delicacies this December is to book a Viking Line ship voyage – the famous Swedish chef Leif Mannerström has once again given his best traditional recipes to delight the taste buds of the hungry passengers.
Ah – all those wonderful marinated herrings, hot smoked salmon fins, Skagen delicacies, smoked turkey, Christmas ham, Sandefjord butter sauce, Jansson´s temptation, Mannerström´s strong  mustard... And then the desserts... 
Try for example almond cookies with berry jam and whipped cream. And gingerbread mousse with plums...

Sumptuous Christmas buffet is set on all Viking Line ships untilDecember 26th.
If you would like to try all those recipes at home you can buy there also Mannerströms Julkokbok, the lavishly illustrated Christmas Cookbook by the chef.
Photos ©Paula Hietaranta





Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Shop macabre in Helsinki


The most weird shop you can imagine is Götan maailma – Omituista antiikkia (Göta´s world – weird antiques).
The owner Thomas Hamberg is an artist-actor and a passionate collector of weird things. When his home became too crowded, he opened this shop in May 2011.
Now the shop is also crowded and getting more and more crowded with old things, medical objects and death masks, skeletons and skulls, dioramas and animals from Victorian era, fossils, all kind of death memorablia and religious antiques.
There are also workshops, for example how to make a bit different Christmas decorations or how to stuff animals.
Here a stuffed rabbit means something else you normally think. It is not a meal.
Götan maailma, Tarkkampujankatu 9, Helsinki. Open Mon-Fri 10am to 6pm, Sat 10 am to 2pm. Check the news of the shop also in FB/Götan Maailma.
Photos©Paula Hietaranta




A tiny Marimekko shop for tiny people


Muksula, a special Marimekko shop for kids only, was opened in February in Helsinki. Now the baby is decorated for it´s first Christmas.
There you find a nice selection of children´s clothes and toysEspecially the night rompers, striped one pieces and bath towels are charming.
But why the grown-ups are always asking when they see clothes for children: - They are so sweet, but why don´t you have them in my size?

Marimekko Muksula, Mikonkatu 2, Helsinki. Open Mon-Fri 10am-8pm, Sat 10am-5pm.

Photo©PaulaHietaranta

Friday, November 14, 2014

Harri Koskinen knows how to win


The winner of Kaj Franck Design Prize 2014 was announced today: he is Harri Koskinen.
Congratulations and a big hug!
Good design is not always shouting – sometimes it is whispering.
And sometimes the work of a designer is like a work by a detective: to find a solution to a problem. To make something lighter, more wearable, more efficient, even cheaper. And perhaps more beautiful.
I think that Harri Koskinen, one of our most famous designers, knows all sides of designing and it´s challenges: along with his own company Friends of Industry Ltd he is since 2012 also the design director of the Finnish design brand Iittala.
The exhibition of his works in Design Museum, Korkeavuorenkatu 23, Helsinki, is open until January 11th 2015.
To see the versatile selection of Harri´s works and clients go to www.harrikoskinen.com
(By the way - this guy may always look austere in photos, but he has a nice sense of humour and a wonderful smile!)

Friday, September 19, 2014

To sleep with the most famous lady in Helsinki

The nights in this Helsinki art hotel were sold out immediately as soon the project was announced, of course, but during daytime you are most welcome to experience the amazing idea by Japanese artist Tatzu Nishi at the central Market Square: a hotel room built around the most famous statue in Helsinki.
The mermaid statue Havis Amanda by Ville Wallgren symbolises the city of Helsinki rising from the sea. It was unveiled in 1908.
Hotel Manta of Helsinki is open to visitors during daytime until 12th October. 
http://www.hotelmanta.fi/#





Photos©Paula Hietaranta

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Girl power in Finnish shoe design


Minna Parikka had her own shoe company first in her teenage dreams and then in reality 2005. After years of hard work and faith in her talent her brand is now pretty well-known all over fashionable world.
Technically speaking her shoes and boots and sneakers are footwear, in reality they are style, fun and joy of living.
A couple of weeks ago Minna was nominated for The Young Designer 2014 by Design Forum Finland as a young designer of exceptionally original and high-standard skills, and a lovely collection of her shoes is  now on display Design Forum Showroom, Erottajankatu 9B (inner courtyard), Helsinki, until 14.9.
More Minna´s new shoes you find in her shop Minna Parikka Universum in Aleksanterinkatu 36, 00100 Helsinki.
Sanna Kantola from LUMI company has until now been more known for the beautiful quality bags and accessories but now she is designing shoes as well. The inspiration to the first footwear collection came from a traditional Finnish boot.
The new Lumi Shoe Store is situated in Kiseleffin talo Unioninkatu 27, Helsinki.


Photos©Paula Hietaranta


Thursday, August 21, 2014

Happy moments to your table


What a beauties!
Two Finnish designer brands do offer new joys to your days in this autumn. (They are those must-have things you did not know you needed before seeing them.)
The Arabia 24h tableware series, designed by Heikki Orvola, has now a lovely Iltalaulu (Evening song) decor. Elegant illustrations for mugs and cups are made by artist Vincent Bakkum. Here you see the giant tea cup with blackbird motif in soft autumn colors.
Marimekko has many talented designers, and one of my favorites is Sami Ruotsalainen. For this autumn he made to his Oiva tableware collection a soup plate with broad rim. Perfect for putting fishbones etc. extras aside...
Marimekko CEO Mika Ihamuotila takes a picture of the designer holding his new plate.
Note! These products are in the shops later this month. 
Photos©Paula Hietaranta



Monday, August 18, 2014

Light inspiration from the nature


Our beloved designer Oiva Toikka, famous for his lovely glass birds, created this mouth-blown glass lamp Kuukuna almost thirty years ago.
Then this soft mood lamp was quite modest, but this autumn it has grown a bit. The small Kuukuna measures now 220 x 190 x 200 mm, the big one 265 x 240 x 230 mm.
By the way, the Finnish word kuukuna means a mushroom, not an egg.
The lamps are in the Iittala shops at the end of this month.
Photo © Paula Hietaranta

Sunday, August 10, 2014

New Fashion in Finland, part 8: SAMUJI

Samu-Jussi Koski.
Remember the name.
Samu-Jussi is a Finnish designer who sooner or later will be the hot name on the international fashion scene.
That multi talent, lovely guy was boiled in Marimekko business as a creative director 2008-09, and started Samuji, a label of his own some years go.
In his clothes the quality talks, and they make you more you, only a bit more self-confident and beautiful.
Here are some pictures of his A/W2014 fashion show we saw in Helsinki Taidehalli this spring.
Photos©Jaakko Lukumaa





See the whole collection in Style.Com
And enjoy also Samuji video Let's not make it complicated, the winner in the category Best Emerging Artist in Berlin Fashion Film Festival in July, he made with Joel Hypén about the same collection.



Saturday, August 9, 2014

A coffee and raw cake heaven in Helsinki


Cafe Kokko is the name of the place, and you find it just round the corner of  Kauppatori market place.
The owner Pasi Kokko turned from a nearly burnout fashion photographer to a barista some years ago, and has now a cafe of his own in Katajanokka. The biggest temptations there along the tasty coffees are gluten- and lactose-free raw cakes and smoothies.
Serving weekend brunches had to be stopped because they were too popular.
Cafe Kokko
Kanavaranta 7 B, first floor
00160 Helsinki
cafekokko.com
Opening hours are Mon-Fri 9am-7pm, Sat 10am-7pm, Sun 10am-6pm.

Photo©Paula Hietaranta

Thursday, August 7, 2014

A good tip to a delicious Helsinki lunch


Are you looking for a nice, not too expensive lunch restaurant in the central Helsinki?
My recommendation is the cafe-restaurant Story in the newly renovated Vanha Kauppahalli (Old Market Hall).
There you can enjoy homecooking style food from fresh ingredients from the market hall and market square.
My lunch was a tasty pike burger with potatoes, spinach and tomatoes.
The lunch is served on Mon-Fri from 11am to 4 pm.
The restaurant is open also for breakfasts on Mon-Sat and dinners on Fri-Sat, closed on Sundays.
Photo©Paula Hietaranta

Friday, August 1, 2014

Girls from Fiskars


Sculptor Kim Simonsson & master goldsmith Saarikorpi Design
3D Girl, Edition of 123, 321 e pcs.


Rajapinnat (Blurred lines), this year´s summer exhibition in Fiskars village, is a meeting of three major Finnish creative communities of art, artisan and design, weaving together their power and creative ideas.
Now I would like to introduce to you some charming girls I met there.

Visual artist Piitu Nykopp:13/dozen. 
Mixed media, paper mache, 790 e pcs.
Sculptor Kim Simonsson & master goldsmith Saarikorpi Design
Treasure Hunter, 1/10, necklace, silver and peridot, 3450 e.
Artist Katja Öhrnberg: Message in a bottle. 
Mixed media, price available upon request.
Graphic artist Viivi Varesvuo & woodenboat builder Jussi Nordberg
Stool. Ash, hazel, jewellery. 500-545 e pcs.

Rajapinnat exhibition is open until 14th September. Open daily from 11 am to 6 pm.
http://www.fiskarsvillage.fi/en/events/summer-exhibition-blurred-lines

Photos Paula Hietaranta

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Sweet ice cream moments in Helsinki


I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream...
The song brings back memories from late 1920s, but it is topical always, especially during these hot spring days in Finland.
Now you can customize your own favorite combination of ice cream delicacy at Magnum Pleasure Pop-Up Store in Helsinki until June 28th.
Here you see my combination of white chocolate and mini marshmallows and crispy something...

Magnum Pleasure is open Mon-Thu 11 am – 10pm, Sat 11 am-9 pm at Vanha Ylioppilastalo, Mannerheimintie 3, Helsinki, just opposite Stockmann store.
Photo©Paula Hietaranta

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Summer marriage of Marimekko and Kiasma


This summer we can enjoy in Helsinki the exhibition where art and design are living happily together.
In November last year 16 Finnish artists and designers were invited by Marimekko and Museum of Contemporay Art Kiasma to creative meetings to do something new in art and design using (if they wanted, it was not obligatory) Marimekko´s materials, factory and tradition.
The collaboration got a name Kimpassa (Together) and it opened last week.
The result is a crazy, eye-opening and touching experience not to be missed. 
There will never be flower design in Marimekko fabrics, said Armi Ratia, the founder of Marimekko, a long time ago. Remembering this made artist Hanna Vihriälä this giant candy rose.
A long monster story Pääjalkaiset (Cephalopods), painted on plywood by designer Erja Hirvi, illustrates boldly the mechanisms of our society. 
A long poem written with clothespins by artist 
Anu Tuominen welcomes you to the exhibition. 
The Greenhouse full of green objects is also by Anu, who is really a genius in collecting all kind of stuff.
 


Artist Jenni Hiltunen created a huge netlike ”painting” made of Marimekko waste fabrics, all dyed by hand and shred into long strips.


Company, Aamu Song and Johan Olin, gave an international twist to Jokapoika shirt and Iloinen takki, classic designs by Vuokko Nurmesniemi. Here they are made of traditional Korean Saektong Yangdan silk satin fabrics. 

Company´s designer Aamu Song.



Marimekko designers Aino-Maija Metsola, Noora Niinikoski and Sami Ruotsalainen styled a creative collection of women dressed in painted fabrics. Photos by Kira Gluschkoff.



A detail of a big village of clay figurines by Jenni Tuominen. The artist herself is at the top blessing the whole gang. 
Visual artist Tommi Musturi, best known of his comics, brought to the exhibition a picture story, an allegory of life, in the form of a giant lampshade. 

Kimpassa/Together is open until September 7th 2014. 
Photos © Paula Hietaranta
More info www.kiasma.fi













Thursday, May 15, 2014

Star and stripes: Satu Maaranen and her lovely Petit Bateau girls



Finnish designer Satu Maaranen won last year the Grand Prix of the jury Première Vision for her women's collection Garment in Landscape at the International Festival of Fashion and Photography in Hyères.
A part of the prize was the invitation to design a collection for the French label Petit Bateau, and the result, the fresh combination of classic sailor and freely painted stripes, has now been in the shops since April.
You can buy these pretty clothes from Petit Bateau website and also in Villa Noailles during this year´s Festival d’Hyères until May 25th.

Have a look at the sources of Satu´s world and inspirations here:
http://www.nowness.com/day/2014/4/16/3811/petit-bateau-x-satu-maaranen