The Loft arrangement space at VitraHaus is furnished in turn by different visiting interior designers. At present, the Loft shows the hand of the designers at Charlap Hyman & Herrero, who have created an interior space that opens out to a verdant landscape. It’s a surreal meditation on blending indoors with outdoors, public and private spaces, the old and new, juxtaposing the modern with decorative styles of yesteryear, the bizarre and the real.

The inspiration tying it all together offers homages to the works of art, films, characters, books and places that have fascinated the designers who founded CHH. A carefully curated whole came together in a deeply personal space full of humour, memories, and love.

What is common to the VitraHaus Loft and an entrepreneurial couple from Jyväskylä in central Finland? Kimmo and Mikko and their two dogs live close to nature in a house they designed for themselves, where the gable roof of the living room reminds one of the VitraHaus, and the sleek interior design creates a similar sense of spaciousness to that of the CHH Loft. Kimmo and Mikko answer our questions here:

How did you get to know Vitra and how has it inspired you?

For us, the first connection with Vitra came through the ceramic bird L’Oiseau that we have had for years and years. To us, the shape of the bird is a perfect expression of the Vitra style, a quality that is present in all their products. But thinking back, the first encounters we had with Vitra were in our youth. It was a time when we saw a lot of wonderful furniture in interior design magazines and only later realised that they were Vitra products. So, you might say that we’ve always enjoyed the Vitra Collection – it is stylish, simple, and occasionally goes crazy with colours, materials and shapes! That is what has inspired us in our home. When you are creating an interior, you can be playful with colours and materials, even when the overall impression is to be simple and stylish.

What is your interior design philosophy?

We like to opt for the good stuff, for lasting design, avoiding objects with a short lifespan. We steer clear of temporary solutions. We’d rather wait for that perfect piece and, when necessary, we save up to buy it. We are not averse to second-hand design if we come across the right piece.

For our home we choose pieces and furniture on the principle that they should make us feel good and give joy – even on a regular weekday. It’s lovely to come home from work and always feel uplifted by something beautiful. We also have gifts from friends or family, things that are connected to warm memories and feelings.

Art also has its place in our hearts. Paintings and other art objects can be seasoned with a personal vibe and for us they provide splashes of colour in the interior design.

What connections do you see between your home and the VitraHaus Loft arrangement?

Immediately, the shape of the VitraHaus building is reminiscent of our own barn-like house. In our home we have used different materials, and that is also done at the exhibition. The VitraHaus Loft is simple and stylish in its use of bold colours and different textures. The colour palette in our home is basically sombre, but we’ve added accents of colour through the furniture, art and design objects. And like the exhibition Loft, which is enriched with local art and design objects, our home also achieves a natural combination of Finnish and foreign design.

The Loft arrangement at the VitraHaus is open and spacious, a description that equally applies to our living room. And we, too, also have an amazing view from our windows.

//Kimmo & Mikko

@kodikaslato

VitraHaus x Artek Helsinki
8.6.–4.9.2021
Keskuskatu 1 B
00100 Helsinki
Mon–Sat 10–18

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