Interior design and decoration show Habitare will merge with several other shows including contemporary art fair ArtHelsinki, the Salon antique fair, and the Light fair this year from September 14 to 18.

A special events space Ahead! showcases contemporary design, design classics and innovative interior design solutions; the Interiore area focuses on the design, implementation and function of public spaces; and the Light event presents lighting solutions. Ahead! will be designed by the award-winning design duo Kivi and Tuuli Sotamaa of Sotamaa Design. Their bold architecture embodies the theme of ‘transformation’.

The Ahead! design area will feature high-profile exhibitors and exciting special sections, such as the Habitare Design Competition, the Habitare Collection, the Protoshop forum for up-and-coming talent, and the Reading Corner literature browsing and sale area.

In the 10th Habitare Design Competition, the contestants were required to create the overall concept of an outhouse and related items from the point of view of architecture and design. Out of the total of 110 entries submitted, the judges chose six finalists for implementation at the fair: HuHuussi by Ilari Airikkala, architecture student at Aalto University School of Science and Technology; Liberté by architect Mikko Teerenhovi; Kajaste by Kreetta Airila, Riikka Manninen , Julianna Nevari and Saana Turunen, Lahti University of Applied Sciences Institute of Design; Huussi ja kasvimaa by architect Felix Lahtinen; Lyhty by Varpu Lehtinen, architecture student at Tampere University of Technology; and Hajosikotoyotasi by Yoshimasa Yamada, architecture student at Tampere University of Technology.

The grand prize of €10,000 will be awarded on the opening day of Habitare.

'Habitare Collection' will now be part of the fair program for the second time as part of a collaboration wtih the Design Museum. The 2011 jury members are Marianne Aav, director of the Design Museum in Helsinki, Deyan Sudjic, director of the Design Museum in London, the critic Hannu Pöppönen, and the designer and architect Ilkka Suppanen. The jury will select 30 modern interior design classics from around the world.

Designer group Imu Design will highlight bold new design and seeks business partners and manufacturer contacts for designers through Protoshop. The exhibition presents 11 high-quality, insightful products including pieces of furniture, small objects, light fittings, textiles and building material innovations. Proposals for Protoshop were sought through an open competition.

The third international EcoDesign special exhibition will present ecological multipurpose furniture under the theme “multifunction”. Konstantin Grcic of Germany, the guest of honour at the exhibition, is one of today’s most prominent industrial designers. Top international designers from Finland and abroad have been invited to the exhibition, which is produced by the advertising agency Valo. The designers have a free hand in designing and implementing a versatile ecological product under the theme ‘multifunction’. Thus far, more than 100 designers have confirmed their participation.

Trash design, Habitare’s new special exhibition, uses as its raw material anything that has been removed from service, discarded or worn out. Waste is transformed into design, everyday objects and mood-enhancers for spaces. The unexpected combinations of materials, colours and functions at the Trash Design home to be built in the Ahead! design area will offer fair visitors insights and inspire them to conduct their own experiments. The program related to the special exhibition features workshops, a folk music day and a day of lectures discussing freedom in design. The exhibited pieces will be for sale during the fair.

The Trash Design exhibition will provide designers with creative freedom and the joy of discovery. Participants are from the major design schools in Finland and from the Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Sweden. The special exhibition is produced by the fashion designer Isa Kukkapuro and the trash designer Henrik Enbom.

Included in the fair for the second time, the area entitled Made in Finland will highlight Finnish furniture manufacturing. The exhibition architecture by Janne Tyynismaa and Jonas Hakaniemi will tie the area together to form an impressive whole that oozes Finnishness.

Habitare’s interior decoration accessories shop will feature a group of desks from the Finnish Association of Designers Ornamo, presenting the skilled work of Finnish artisans. The theme cafe holds activating workshops, during which fair visitors can get to know and try out different kinds of handicraft methods for themselves.