Finnish Designer Trees Bear Fruit in Andes

Last week I dropped in on a very cool Finnish design exhibit being hosted at Lima’s ICPNA center. “Northern Stars” showcases more than 100 years of innovative design from Finnish designers and design firms such as Marimekko, Arabia, Nokia and Metso.

El Híjo and I were hoping to catch sight of some Moomintrolls, the eccentric woodland characters invented by Finnish children’s author Tove Jansson, but as it happened there weren’t any velvet-snouted trolls lolling about the art gallery.  There were, however, some playful tree-shaped room dividers, rather like props from a children’s fantasy, that caught my eye.

“The Tree,” as it’s called, is a piece of functional art created by the Finnish designer Eero Aarnio  (creator of the iconic ball chair) for the Martelas collection. It can be used as a room divider or a coat hanger or as an object on which to display things. The especially nice thing about The Tree is that profits from its sales will go to plant fruit trees in the Peruvian Andes — four real trees for every one designer Tree sold.

A nonprofit called World Vision Finland is behind the Tree charity effort, as its Facebook page explains:

The Tree is a space divider designed by Professor Eero Aarnio for Martelas collection. Part of the income from each tree will be donated to a World Vision Finland regional development project in the Peruvian Andes that will plant fruit trees to halt and prevent erosion. The fruit from the trees will be an additional source of food, which will benefit local children in particular.

Each Tree sold will produce four fruit trees in Peru. The fruit trees will benefit 300 families and 800 children regionally. Planning for the two-year project has already started. The project will prevent erosion and have a long-reaching impact.

“We want to contribute to reliable, high-standard charities. It felt very natural to us to help with this product because the aim is to prevent erosion in a developing country. Professor Eero Aarnio says he always felt the Tree was the tree of paradise, and thus it too will produce fruit for those who truly in need.

The Tree was launched during last year’s Milan Furniture Fair (April 2008). For more information, visit World Vision online:  http://www.wvi.org/