The elements featured in the trophies for the Levi World Cup 2009 include an hour glass, sparkling wine, flames and wood. Those are elements that describe Levi and also alpine races in general. The hour glass shape of the trophy describes time, sparkling wine describes celebration, flames and wood are Lappish elements. Overall, the materials stand for ecological design.
The trophy is designed and produced by Jukka Isotalo from Evolum Ltd who likes to use glass bottles as a material for his products. The bottles he utilises are not recycled in Finland and would otherwise end up in a glass container. "Most of the materials are foreign wine and sparkling wine bottles that are made from quality materials and their form and shape is perfect for this kind of production. We don't use any wine or beer bottles that are recyclable", says Isotalo about his products.
He wants to be a good example for reusing materials and saving energy. For example, instead of melting bottles in the production process, he utilizes the original form of the bottles. This way, he uses only a fraction of the energy required to produce corresponding items by hot working. Isotalo finalizes his products by sandblasting.
"The trophy for the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup in Levi is a special case compared to my normal production as I use wood and metal besides the glass, which makes the production a bit more challenging. It takes about half a day per trophy to make the film, mask and sandblasting. Some trophy parts can be made as a series production since there will be eight trophies all together", says Isotalo.
Most of the products made by Evolum are usually business presents for small and middle-size companies. Evolum's products can also be seen at Olo restaurant where products are used to serve starters.
The glass in the Levi World Cup trophies is from Elysée Arctic sparkling wine bottles. The wooden stand made of mountain ash is designed by Arto Sillanpää from the University of Art and Design Helsinki. The trophy is a fine example of Finnish design.
Text by Jussi Väätäinen
