At the Artek Helsinki store you can imagine yourself in Weil am Rhein, experiencing VitraHaus interiors. The VitraHaus, designed by the architects Herzog & de Meuron, was completed in 2010. To mark its 10th anniversary in 2020, the interior of the building has been redesigned and renovated. Till Weber was the main designer responsible for its new look. The VitraHaus showcases both Vitra classics and their latest contemporary designs, with each interior arranged in a different style and further enriched with art objects and vintage treasures. The Vitra concept sees the home as a collage where different combinations of furniture, light fittings and other design items come together to create a uniquely personal style. The VitraHaus x Artek Helsinki exhibition now showing in Keskuskatu was created in collaboration with Till Weber and his team.

The bold and colourful furniture arrangements in the exhibition at the Artek Helsinki store, show how well the Vitra Home Collection works in different types of room and in a variety of styles. While this inspirational exhibition is sure to prompt new perspectives, the selected interior arrangements at street level also give visitors a chance to get to know the Vitra Campus and the history of Vitra. The first floor of the store, too, has more to offer: the Artek Helsinki interior design service now has a studio area of its own, where fabric and material options are conveniently at hand. The part of the store known as the Lounge Chair Atelier shows a choice of materials for the iconic Eames Lounge Chair, while in one fun-filled swirl the Eames Fibreglass Chair wheel displays the different colours available for the fibreglass seat of this classic chair. As store manager Annika Tammi explains, ‘The new solutions upstairs support our growing interior design service and give us better facilities to serve both private and professional clients in their projects.’

Till Weber says of the styles of interior used at the VitraHaus: ‘For us it was particularly important to not showcase just one style at the VitraHaus. We look at different styles and reflect on what would work best at the VitraHaus, and consider what clientele they would resonate with. Authentic diversity is always key. Once we had chosen the main styles, we planned the order in which they were to be displayed along the path at the VitraHaus to make it smooth, to make the whole experience strong in ways that would inspire visitors in more ways than one.’ Selected arrangements have been brought to the Artek Helsinki store and been enriched with local artworks and interior design objects. Artek Helsinki’s interior designer Joanna Amemori adds that, ‘All the furniture arrangements at the exhibition – the Elegant, the Loft, the Curated and the Eccentric – are respectful of the original design and are complemented with local elements of art and interior design.’

In the spirit of Vitra Campus, the exhibition extends outside the Artek Helsinki store. The outdoor furnishings were selected from the Vitra catalogue and interspersed among a planting of meadow-like greenery. The plants used are the same kinds that grow in the garden set up at Vitra Campus in 2020 by the Dutch gardener and artist Piet Oudolf, who is known for his seemingly wild but meticulously planned gardens of grasses and meadow flowers. The Vitra Campus garden is expected to be in full bloom for the first time this summer and a small satellite version of it to be seen in Helsinki’s Keskuskatu.

Artek has been a Vitra retailer since the early 2000s. After Artek was acquired by Vitra in 2013, the Vitra Home Collection found a home at the Artek Helsinki store.

VitraHaus x Artek Helsinki
June 8 to September 4, 2021
Keskuskatu 1 B, 00100 Helsinki
Monday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Artek Helsinki 
Keskuskatu 1 B
00100 Helsinki, Finland
tel. +358 10 617 3480
artekhelsinki@artek.fi
Mon-Sat 10:00 – 18:00