Studio Kaksikko

The Helsinki-based pair consider themselves formgivers before designers and share an appetite for understated, functional design that highlights the virtues of a material.

Studio Kaksikko is composed of Salla Luhtasela and Wesley Walters — kaksi meaning duo in Finnish. The Helsinki-based pair consider themselves formgivers before designers and specialise in ceramic tableware and wooden furniture. They share an appetite for understated, functional design that highlights the virtues of a material.

Salla and Wesley met during a ceramics class while studying at Helsinki’s Aalto University, immediately drawn to each other’s aesthetic. Their work references a constellation of Nordic and Japanese influences, thanks to their eclectic backgrounds. Salla grew up in a small town 40 minutes outside of Helsinki, next to a lake and surrounded by forest. Wesley hails from California’s mountainous north but spent five years in Japan, before finding his way to Finland.

For Salla, her speciality in Aalto was an obvious choice, given her training as a confectioner: “Ceramics felt familiar straight away, because the movement with your hands is so similar to that of baking.” Wesley studied East Asian Languages at UC-Berkeley before working as a Japanese interpreter on film sets. Following his travels and a masters in Tama Art University in Tokyo, he forewent plans to go to architecture school and set off for Finland for his second masters in furniture design.

“Although I’m not consciously thinking about Japanese aesthetics when I design, it undoubtedly had a big effect on me. It’s where my interest in materials and simplicity comes.”

Their work at once spans backward in history and forward in style; pieces are handmade using traditional techniques but appear contemporary in their detailing. The duo’s appreciation for craft and minimalism translate into an impeccable eye for form and a reverence for the utilitarian objects of everyday life — Like the seat of their Perch Stool, which references the weather-worn door handles of Helsinki’s old residential buildings.

Studio Kaksikko may never have come into being if it was not for a series of serendipitous events. While exhibiting in Helsinki Design Week, Salla and Wesley found themselves without seating; so Wesley created stools — The Perch Stool — for them to sit on during downtime. After the CEO of Finnish Design Shop took a shine to the stool, they entered the design into 2016’s FDS competition, and won. Wesley commented: “I think it's common when studying design to think your work has to be really loud and attention-seeking, so it was funny that we had no intention of making it into a product, but in the end people loved it.”

“Although I’m not consciously thinking about Japanese aesthetics when I design, it undoubtedly had a big effect on me. It’s where my interest in materials and simplicity comes.”

Salla and Wesley prefer the aesthetic of handcrafted objects and try to hand-make all their pieces, because “you have to make compromises in factory production that you don’t have to make when you’re making by hand.” When beginning a project, they usually draw together for a few weeks before going into the workshop to make a 1:1 prototype in the final material. At this point, they make their final judgement based on tactility and functionality.

Finland is a country where designers can easily produce everything domestically, and both Salla and Wesley share a desire to make things locally. When it comes to furniture, they gravitate towards hardwoods such as ash and oak but are particularly fond of birch — which they will be using to make their Perch Stools for ÅBEN. This way, the entire production can remain close to home with “only a few hundred kilometres from the trees to the final product”.

Discover and Purchase Kaksikko's work in the Åben Shop

“The entire production remains close to home with only a few hundred kilometres from the trees to the final product.”

“The duo’s appreciation for craft and minimalism translate into an impeccable eye for form and a reverence for the utilitarian objects of everyday life.”