The freshness and contemporary nature of Avarte furniture does not fade with time. That is proved by e.g. the classics designed in the 1960’s, Karuselli and Remmi as well as Skaala. These lounge chairs among others have become very popular again. Typical features of the collection are the lightness of the furniture and the honesty of their form often reflected by structural details as well. Their visually light structure takes respectfully into account space, too, and complements tactfully the architecture of the building. From the very beginning, professor Yrj? Kukkapuro has been company's principal designer. Today we collaborate also with other leading designers like Mikko Paakkanen who was nominated as the Young Designer of the Year 2006 in Finland. See our Designers

     Avarte has participated in many interior design projects worldwide. We have supplied furniture to several projects designed by famous architects, such as cultural centres, city halls, offices of many international corporations, universities and other institutes, banks and hospitals. See our Reference list.

     For example the following museums have taken furniture designed by Yrj? Kukkapuro for Avarte to their permanent collections: New York: Museum of Modern Art, London: Victoria and Albert Museum, Hamburg: Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Weil am Rhein: Vitra Design Museum, Copenhagen, Gothenburg and Helsinki museums of industrial art, and the National Museum in Stockholm.

     ‘Does it make any sense to design a chair which is not good to sit on.’ This is one of Kukkapuro’s favourite sayings and also describes our design philosophy to the point. Kukkapuro’s own design is always a long and thoroughly considered process, in which searching for perfect ergonomics plays a key role. At Avarte, we admire functionality and the forms that follow it. One of our greatest challenges is to create functional, durable and comfortable furniture out of as little amount of material as possible. It is the ergonomy through ecology -idea that we bear in mind every day while designing our products.

     Rational use of materials and timeless design combined with the high quality, durability and long lifespan of furniture is the most essential factor for our environment. A piece of furniture stresses the environment at the most when it is taken to the dump. Avarte furniture are made for long term use and their lifespan is prolonged by the availability of replacement parts, which are easy to change. This and other important environmental factors are specified in detail in the Avarte Environmental Policy.

"My furniture design is an ongoing experimental process whereby a unique and an industrial product compete. Sometimes the interval between the two may be infinitely short. Yet in the appropriate context, even the results of spontaneous experimentation may gain mainstream popularity…then, the experiment has succeeded in opening eyes and enlightening the mind."

"Furniture design is a slow process, which in the case of the individual designer, evolves in small steps. Part of the process involves the so-called laboratory work not taken into production as such, yet which retains the details of life, a structural idea or a visual concept. My work is dominated by a curiosity centered on the dialogue between material and structure."

Profiili
Design: Simo Heikkila