The time seems to have stopped to the moment, when clay pots, long forgotten on the mossy ground, whispered the story of the glory years of the clay foundry. In a factory that collapsed years ago, the brick pipes were waiting for a moment until it was time to write a new chapter in the story.
Visiting the surroundings of an abandoned factory in Kortesjärvi, South Ostrobothnia, in the scenery of my husband's childhood life, brought out many emotions in me, mostly curiosity and respect. What were the best years of the clay foundry's family business like, when the construction boom was hot and there was an impatient queue for the bricks to be finished from the big kiln? The stories tell that the demand was so strong that the bricks were laid glowing hot on the back of the car, sometimes even setting the wooden platform on fire.
When the world changed, what changes did it bring and why was it time to let go? When the activity of the clay foundry ended, the remaining pipes were left on the shelves built for them, waiting to be discovered, perhaps by the initiator of a new era.
The journey from the middle of stacks of brick pipes to the finished Teo lamp and the world-conquering Ehea Living brand needs time and space to grow until, on Father's Day in November 2020, my dream becomes a clear vision of the future.
For me, brick pipes serve as inspiration for the new and the future. About how the story could be continued, in its own way.
The idea became stronger and my intuition urged me to find out how to shape the dream of a lamp into a concrete product? I knew there was a long way to go, but I thought: now there is no rush to get anywhere.
I looked for help from Finnish design professionals Jukka Jokinen and Heikki Konu. When they got to work, my vision took on a whole new dimension. With the professional skills of the designer duo Jokinen & Konu, the thought and ideas took shape into a concrete lamp, the dream began to come true.
Teo is not just a lamp, but a handmade product has a soul and a message.
It seems incredible that the story of the brick pipes, which have been waiting for their time in the cold for decades, will continue in a different form, as a modern Teo lamp made of ceramics. Teodor Roos was the founder of the Roos clay foundry, and the lamp proudly bears the name of his late grandfather, known in close circles as Teet.
Ehea combines the creativity, inspiration and humanity of different generations.
More than four decades passed before these pieces cast in clay, cast into silence, were brought back to life, reshaped and made of ceramics. Ehea Living continues the bright story of humanity that started a long time ago as a historical part of modern society.
Our story is being written all the time.
Ehea tells a story about time and its passage. About the years and the people who passed through them. Of great significance, of everyday life. The story is also about constant change, that we will never be done.