Antti Kotilainen

Background

Antti Kotilainen is a Finnish furniture designer based in Helsinki. According to Knoll, he graduated from Finland's Lahti Design Institute in 1995 and has been designing furniture for Scandinavian companies since the early 1990s. He founded Design Office Antti Kotilainen in Helsinki in 1997; the studio specialises in furniture design and also provides product design and complete visual concepts ranging from graphic to spatial design.

Signature Style

Manufacturers describe his work as organic functionalism set to meet contemporary requirements. He refines technical issues and details — of the manufacturing process and of use alike — into the aesthetics of the final product, aiming for objects that feel easy and necessary at the same time. In the Scandinavian tradition he has explored new ways of working with wood in many of his designs.

Notable Works

• SEELA seating system (2018) and SEELA AC, and the OIVA chair for Lapalma
• Aava chair for Arper
• CHIP chair and barstool for Piiroinen, distributed in North America by Knoll
• AATOS lounge and stacking chairs for CondeHouse
• Collaborations with Martela and other Scandinavian manufacturers

Legacy

Knoll notes that he twice received the Chicago Athenaeum's Good Design Award. His furniture has been shown in Finnish and international exhibitions and is used in companies, universities and cultural sites in Europe, the United States, Australia and Japan.