The exhibition, titled "Manifesto of Lightness," will be shown in the SaloneSatellite program at Milan's Salone del Mobile, one of the most influential platforms for emerging designers worldwide.  

The 10 chairs were designed and built by EKA students under the guidance of Finnish designer Ilkka Suppanen as part of a long-running coursework project focused on experimental seating design.

Students are challenged to build a functional chair prototype using only a small sheet of plywood, wooden dowels and glue, with an emphasis on minimal material use and structural efficiency.

Its focus is on doing more with less. The combined carbon footprint of all 10 chairs is roughly comparable to a single mass-produced plastic chair made in China, according to the academy.

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At EKA, sustainability is treated less as a slogan and more as a design outcome, with students exploring how little material is needed to create a structurally sound object.

World-class student designers

"Ten years of work has paid off," said professor Andres Ojari, head of architecture and urban design at EKA. He added that the Milan fair is one of the industry's most important stages, and not easily accessible to newcomers.

"EKA's architecture and interior design students are world-class," Ojari underscored.

The academy's chair studio is led by Ilkka Suppanen, a prominent Finnish designer with more than 30 years of international experience under his belt and whose work has been shown in major design museums worldwide. He also serves as curator of the exhibition, alongside co-supervisors Yrjö Wiherheimo and Martin Relander.

The student designers behind the chairs are Madli Bulgarin, Sander Haugas, Kadri Kallaste, Madis Keerd, Karolin Kull, Alis Mäesalu, Ra Puhkan, Kristofer Soop, Karl Robin Timm and Linda Marie Zimmer. They were assisted by EKA master woodworkers Oliver Kanniste and Avo Tragel.

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