June 01, 2019
Best in Show, Mari Koppanen: ‘We grew together’
Mari Koppanen’s MA-project has been chosen as the Best Project of the year with award of 20 000 NOK by FKDS. The jury states that Koppanen’s has a thorough investigation into contemporary design practices that addresses material sustainability, craft heritage and cultural misappropriation.
Her topic manages to grasp many of the burning contemporary ethical issues concerning design, yet still on a very personal and poetic way. Ms Koppanen has focused on the material properties of polypore mushrooms and the ancient craft practices related various applications of this leather-like renewable material, that now bear potential for replacing animal or oil-based materials. She concludes her exploration in a series of beautifully crafted design artefacts, that can be seen an opening for a critical design discourse into our future practices. Ms Koppanen demonstrates extremely high holistic professional design abilities to handle such a complex and relevant topic.
