Karelia History. The Beginning. 1959-1960.
While studying architecture at the School of Architecture at the University of Toronto, I became aware of Scandinavian architecture and the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto became my hero. Not only for his humanist approach to architecture but in his broad scope of involvement from town planning, sculpture and painting and the design of bent wood furniture for Artek and award winning glass designs for Karhula-Iittala.
I learned more about Finnish architecture and design and discovered that many international magazines and publications were featuring projects and Finnish architects and designers that had won top prizes at the 1960 Milan Triennale. The products were simple, beautiful and expressive of their material and in addition they seemed to posess a very powerful strength and spirit which made them uniquely Finnish.
To my amazement, none were available in Canada. I decided to change that. i managed to find a Finnish trade publication that listed about twenty companies and their addresses. I wrote to all of them expressing my interest in importing their products and in becoming their representative in Canada. Soon letters, catalogues and samples started arriving in the mail. Most of the Finnish firms were delighted to work with us. We were probably the first company that had approached them from Canada.