The National Council for Design has awarded the 2007 State Prize for Design to Päivi Rintaniemi for her long and outstanding career as a ceramics designer and artist. Riitta Kaivosoja, Director General of the Ministry of Education, presented the award of €15,000 on 12 September 2008 in Helsinki.
The grounds for the prize by the National Council for Design:
Päivi Rintaniemi (born 1956) has carved out a significant career by her determined and impressive work as a designer. She has shown creative talent and competence both as a designer and as an entrepreneur. Her Seinäjoki-based company Amfora is at the very peak of Finnish design. All Päivi Rintaniemi’s works attest to her uncompromising need to produce high-quality objects for people.
The points of departure for Päivi Rintaniemi’s porcelain and wooden utility and decorative collections are clarity and timelessness. The collections skilfully combine aestheticism and functionality while putting the emphasis on high-quality, beautiful and durable design for both everyday use and for special occasions. The visual nature of the tableware collections and their ease of adaptation to various food cultures have brought her an enthusiastic following and international praise.
Rintaniemi's Amfora is a successful design production company that has opened doors for export in Europe and the Far East. It is a good example of internationalisation through unrelenting grass-roots enterprising. Working as a designer and entrepreneur on the international markets takes talent but most of all boldness and vision.
Päivi Rintaniemi’s utility articles are well designed but the technical innovations of the production process have also been crucial to their success. Through them manual work has been transferred to serial production without losing individuality and artistry. The development of the production technology, machinery and processes has been the work of Markku Rintaniemi. The fact that the production process is wholly domestic is also a significant factor in the global economy of today.
Päivi Rintaniemi graduated as a Master of Arts (Art and Design) from the University of Art and Design Helsinki in 1987. She has worked extensively as a lecturer in object design in the Jurva College of Crafts and Design. She is a founding member of the Konsti industrial design group and a member of the Finnish Association of Designers, Ornamo. Rintaniemi has participated in many exhibitions both in Finland and abroad with her unique works, ceramic sculptures and reliefs. She holds many positions of trust – for example, in the Arts Council of Ostrobothnia – promoting the status of design in her home area.
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