bio
“For me, form alone is never the start of the design process. More than anything, I look at the life of the object: what is it used for and how. What language does the object speak, how is it made, and how can it be made better? Form is only one part of the whole, of the object’s DNA. The final product always has to be more than the sum of its parts.”
Heikki Ruoho is an Interior Architect, Industrial- and Furniture Designer. He received his formal education at the LAB Institute of Design and Fine Arts (Lahti Institute of Design / Industrial design, BA), and at the Aalto University (University of Art and Design Helsinki / Interior Architecture and Furniture design, MA).
Awards and recognitions.
As an architectural design-team member:
Finlandia Prize for Architecture - Helsinki Olympic Stadium Refurbishment, Architects NRT/K2S (FIN -20). Public Library of the year-Helsinki Central Library OODI, ALA Architects (IFLA-International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions -19), Finlandia Prize for Architecture, nomination-Helsinki Central Library Oodi, ALA Architects (FIN -19), Vuoden Huiput - The Best Finnish Creative Design, Silver Award - Oodi art-rugs concept (FIN -18), Finlandia Prize for Architecture - The New Harald Herlin Learning Centre(renovation), Architects NRT/JKMM Architecs (FIN -16).
Independent design work:
The Ornamo Design Award (Finland -08), the Fennia Prize (Finland -07), Oribe Craft Design Award (Japan -06).The Caiazza Memorial Challenge at the Promosedia International Chair Exhibition (Italy -04), Workspaces (USA -01), European Packaging Design Prize (Sweden -00), A House for the Third Millennium (Italy -99), and Koizumi Lighting Design Competition (Japan -94).
Ruoho has been awarded major grants by the Arts Council of Finland (-12 and -13), Finnish Cultural Foundation (-06 and -09) and the Finnish Furniture Foundation (-05).
His work has appeared in various international design exhibitions and numerous publications.
Books: Design for Children (Phaidon press), Northern Delights ( Gestalten books), Star Product Designers (Harper Design), Just Kidding ( Victionary), Kids Design (Braun publishing), Finnish Design Yearbook (Design Forum Finland)
Magazines: Abitare, Domus, Frame, Interni, Ottagono, Svensk Form.
”KENNO” child's chair, designed by Ruoho in 2011, is included in the permanent collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Heikki Ruoho currently works at ALA Architects and is visiting lecturer at the Aalto University in Interior Architecture and furniture design department.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/heikki-ruoho-2686932/
heikkiruoho(at)gmail.com