Habitare Talents
The Habitare Talents 2025 designers have been announced – here’s how they are transforming our object culture
Habitare Talents 2025 showcases four bold designers of a new generation, whose works reflect experimental and material-driven approaches. The ingenious creations of Lennart Engels, Reeta Laine, Anton Mikkonen, and Santeri Mortti are memorable visual innovations, such as a material that utilises used sauna stones from Helsinki’s public saunas.
“The Habitare Talents 2025 designers are shaping our object culture and the way we see design as a tool for change. Visually, they are very different creators, but they are all united by fearless experimentation and a strong personal voice,” say Elina Aalto and Saara Renvall from Imu Design.
Imu Design is responsible for curating and producing the Habitare Talents exhibition. In addition, the jury included the creative lead at Habitare, Päivi Helander, and this year’s non-permanent member of the jury, the designer Antti Tuomi, who was featured in the Talentshop exhibition in 2023. The competition secretary is the Habitare producer Ida Ågren.
Lennart Engels
Lennart Engels is a Helsinki-based designer born in Antwerp, who focuses on material innovations and experimental sculptural objects. He combines meaningful materials with an archetypal visual language, reflecting his curiosity about the world. After moving to Finland, Lennart became interested in saunas, particularly sauna stones, which led him to develop a geopolymer material that utilises used sauna stones from Helsinki’s public saunas. In this way, he transforms the stones into conveyors of cultural narratives, merging ancient traditions with contemporary practices.
Reeta Laine
Reeta Laine is a designer who balances aesthetics and practicality in her work. She worked for five years at Nina Bruun’s design office in Copenhagen and has been working independently in her hometown of Tampere for the past three years. Reeta aims to bring new perspectives to the commercial imagery of design and create visually interesting and meaningful products. She is fascinated by the different properties and processing methods of materials, and her work is characterized by a material-driven approach, thoughtful design language, and an element of surprise.
Anton Mikkonen
Anton Mikkonen is a designer whose works combine design, functional art, and sculptural expression. His process-driven approach balances between organic craftsmanship and precisely finished machining, striving for harmonious equilibrium. Anton aims to highlight the natural properties of materials and views the manufacturing process as part of a creative exploration.
Santeri Mortti
Santeri Mortti is a designer specializing in sculptural wooden furniture and interior objects. His work focuses on materials and traditional craftsmanship, with projects evolving through the act of making, allowing room for serendipity. Santeri aims to combine meticulousness and humour in his work, creating unique, one-of-a-kind pieces of furniture that meet practical needs while pushing the boundaries of his technical skills with each object.
