Habitare features more inspiring exhibition areas than ever before - Design, the Newest Furniture Innovations and Fresh Interior Decoration Concepts at Habitare

19.8.2010 14:18:46 EEST | Messukeskus | Press release

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Habitare, Finland's largest furniture, interior decoration and design fair, will be held in Helsinki from 1 to 5 September 2010. The fair features nearly 600 exhibitors. Habitare, organised now for the 19th time, consists of areas exhibiting interior decoration solutions for both homes and public spaces, ranging from furniture and materials to art and unique design products.
Habitare showcases a wide selection of furniture, materials and fittings for all household needs. Habitare is not just a furniture exhibition – an essential part of the event are various special stands and exhibition areas. This year, in particular, there are several new exhibition areas.
An overview of current Finnish furniture production and design
In the Made in Finland area, featured for the first time, Finnish furniture manufacturers exhibit their new collections. The visitors can also meet the manufacturers, and the central area offers more information about using wood and wooden furniture in interior decoration. Finnish furniture is also displayed in several other exhibition stands, set up by the companies themselves.
The Ahead! area is Habitare’s design area, now featured for the third time. This year, modern design and future trends are showcased through the theme “Synergy”. The area’s Forum is the venue for several daily high-grade presentations on interior decoration and design.
This year, the exhibition architecture of the Ahead! area is designed by the Finnish group “Anteeksi Hannu” (Sorry, Hannu), which combines the extensive experience of industrial designer Hannu Kähönen and the brilliant conceptual thinking of the “Anteeksi” work group. At the heart of the Ahead! area, there is a marketplace where the horizon and soundscape reflect the different times of day and varying weather conditions. The marketplace features different vendors each day, introducing their product development, subcontracting, and marketing services. During the weekend, the marketplace turns into a design market.
Special stands and competitions spice up the exhibition area
The Habitare Design Competition, organised by the Finnish Fair Corporation and the Aalto University, is aimed at young designers. The competition is now organised for the ninth time, and its theme this year is to design an ecological seat. The entries of the ten finalists will be on display in a separate stand for the entire duration of the fair. The first prize of the design competition is EUR 10,000, donated by the Finnish Fair Foundation, and the winner is selected by the main judge, the Swiss designer Alfredo Häberli. The results will be announced in the morning of the opening day of the fair.
In the Reading Lounge, set up by the Museum of Finnish Architecture, the Alvar Aalto Museum and the Design Museum, visitors can relax in the midst of Finnish architecture and design, and learn about the museums’ operations and publications. In addition to selling publications, the Lounge will feature a variety of programme. The Museum of Finnish Architecture will also organise a seminar for professionals in the Ahead! area Forum.
Next to the ingenious Reading Lounge, visitors will find Protoshop, set up for the second time in the fair's history. Protoshop features interior decoration product prototypes selected by a jury, and gives designers the opportunity to find contacts and partners at the fair. Design Forum Finland will also have a stand in Habitare, showcasing the work of the Kaj Franck Award winning artist professor and industrial designer Hannu Kähönen.
Material ConneXion is a materials library built by an international expert organisation with headquarters in New York. This will be the first time the special exhibition stand of the materials library is on display in Finland. On Wednesday, the founder and CEO of the Material ConneXion organisation, Georg M. Beylerian, will shed light on how new materials affect design innovations. Furthermore, an expert from the materials library will be present at the stand throughout the fair.
EcoDesign brimming with international top designers
The theme for this year’s EcoDesign special exhibition is ecological lighting fixtures. Last year, EcoDesign showcased an impressive collection of ecological seats. The world-famous German lighting designer Ingo Maurer will act as the special exhibition’s curator this year, and he has invited more than 100 designers to present their visions of ecological lighting fixtures at EcoDesign. The exhibition will include 100 lighting fixtures, and among the participants there will be 16 designers from outside Finland, for instance, Karim Rashid, Haldane Martin, and Tokujin Yoshioka. Assistant curators, designers Terhi Tuominen and Samuli Naamanka have helped Ingo Maurer in his work in Finland.
New exhibition areas at Habitare
This year’s Habitare features some brand new exhibition areas. ArtHelsinki is an exhibition event for contemporary art with 46 galleries from 7 different countries. It is the most international contemporary art fair in Scandinavia, exhibiting works of 272 artists. ArtHelsinki also showcases industrial arts and handicrafts. The visitors will be able to see jewellery and textile art as well as ceramics and glass art products.
Lighting fixtures and equipment are the theme of the Valo event. In addition to interior decorators, this event is aimed at construction architects and lighting designers.
Designpartners100, formerly organised at Kaapelitehdas, is a multidisciplinary design event. Its exhibition area is not comprised of traditional exhibition stands, but displays individual objects, some of which are noteworthy even on an international level, from different fields of design.
The first day of Habitare is intended for professionals, but on other days the exhibition is open to the public. Visitors get access to all exhibition areas and special stands with one ticket. Habitare is organised by the Finnish Fair Corporation.

For further information, please contact:
Huippu Design Management, Design Manager Laura Sarvilinna, tel. +358 9 679 043, laura@huippu.fi
The Finnish Fair Corporation, Communications Officer Johanna Peltola, tel. +358 9 1509 249, johanna.peltola@finnexpo.fi
Habitare, Finland's largest furniture, interior decoration and design fair, at Helsinki Exhibition & Convention Centre on 1-5 September 2010. Open to professionals 1–2 September and to the public 2–5 September 2010. In conjunction with Habitare, there will be three other events: Valo, ArtHelsinki and Designpartners100. Visitors gain admission to all events with one ticket. Tickets: EUR 13/9. www.habitare.fi

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Helsingin Messukeskus on Suomen elämyksellisin tapahtumakortteli ja vaikuttavin kohtaamismedia. Suomen suurin tapahtumajärjestäjä tuottaa laadukkaita tapahtumia sekä vuokraa tilojaan ja palvelujaan erilaisten tapahtumien areenaksi. Messukeskuksen itse tuottamia tapahtumia ovat mm. Habitare, Helsingin Kirjamessut, Educa, FinnBuild, Matkamessut ja Vene Båt. Vierastapahtumina Messukeskuksen tiloissa järjestetään mm. Slush, Nordic Business Forum, Assembly, Kennelliiton Koiramessut sekä lukuisia kansainvälisiä kongresseja ja yritystapahtumia vuosittain.

Tilat käsittävät 7 hallia, 40 muuntuvaa kokoustilaa, 21 ravintolaa ja oman tapahtumahotellin. Messukeskus toi vuonna 2024 pääkaupunkiseudulle 245 miljoonan euron tulovirran ja toiminnan työllisyysvaikutus oli 3335 henkilötyövuotta. Omistajayritys Suomen Messut perustettiin vuonna 1919. | Messukeskus. The realsocial media. www.messukeskus.com @messukeskus

Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre (brand name Messukeskus) hosts Finland’s most inspiring events and exciting encounters. As Finland’s premier experience provider, we organise high-quality events and rent out our facilities for a wide variety of occasions. Events produced by Messukeskus include, among others, Habitare, the Helsinki Book Fair, Educa, Finnbuild, Matka Travel Fair, and Helsinki International Boat Show. Messukeskus also hosts guest events such as Slush, Nordic Business Forum, Assembly, International Dog Fair, as well as many international congresses and business events every year.

Our premises include 7 halls, 40 convertible meeting rooms, 21 restaurants, and our own hotel. The events held at the Helsinki Exhibition and Convention Centre last year brought in a revenue stream of 245 million euros to the Helsinki metropolitan area and created the equivalent of 3,335 full-time jobs. The Finnish Fair Corporation was founded in 1919. | Messukeskus. The real social media | www.messukeskus.com @messukeskus

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