Harri Koskinen: Blown, Hand-Made

(jiří macek) The Finnish company of Iittala has recently presented a brand new range of its ArtWorks products. This range is select, slightly artistic, and very limited as far as the number of pieces is concerned. The first collection of this range was designed by Harri Koskinen, who indeed had a lot of fun playing with colored glass.

The first limited collection of artistic glass, which Harri Koskinen designed in 2000, was created in collaboration with the iconic Finnish brand of Iittala. Therefore, it is no wonder that the 39-year-old Finnish designer began this new ambitious range. Iittala strives to erase the borderline between art and design while achieving new visions and dreams. After all, the company could hardly have decided otherwise - the world is currently obsessed with its collector designer pieces. In addition, Harri Koskinen guarantees quality. He has designed wonderful pieces that are included within both the encyclopedias of contemporary design and catalogues of a host of prominent firms, such as Artek, Danese, Finlandia Vodka, Issey Miyake, Muji, and Venini.

In the premiere collection of the ArtWorks range, Koskinen created a set of applied hand-blown and subsequently hand-cut objects – mugs, trays, bowls, and glasses. These objects have organic shapes derived from the manufacturing method of magnificent crystal glass, to which Koskinen pays homage to the charm and optical qualities in connection with traditional crafts. The unusual colors are, in fact, a play on the theme of old Italian glass-makers, which one can always find hidden beyond glass-making art in general, as well as the Finnish glass-makers who enriched glass-making with the traditions of Scandinavian design. Even though manual production produces tiny inaccuracies, the touch of authenticity for each piece and the many possibilities one cannot afford in assembly-line production come to light. Hand-made blown glass is simply a living phenomenon that Harri Koskinen knows how to treat it in expert fashion. Glass designed by him is fresh, traditional, and Scandinavian.

The Iitala brand can be found in Prague in the Akit and Designor showrooms.

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