Competition task

The aim of the competition is to develop products and product families made from curly birch, and particularly from small-diameter curly birch obtained at the first thinning stage, that are suitable for serial production and commercial sale.

The competition is a single-stage product design competition. The presentation format of proposals submitted digitally as PDF files is unrestricted. A proposal may also include a scale model or prototype, which shall be delivered separately to an address to be announced. Competitors may specify their material choices visually and verbally in the electronic submission.

The evaluation will place particular emphasis on the suitability of curly birch for the product and, in particular, on ideas that make effective use of small-diameter curly birch. Award-winning entries must demonstrate an insightful product concept, innovation in product design and implementation, and novelty.

The jury will pay attention to customer orientation, manufacturability and suitability for serial production, appropriate material choices, design language, manufacturing methods and surface treatments that renew or reinterpret the appearance of the material, for example through the use of colour. Proposals should also take into account marketability in Finland and export potential.

The use of small-diameter curly birch (diameter no more than 15 cm) is recommended, and its use will be considered an advantage in the evaluation. Small-diameter curly birch may also be combined with other wood materials or other materials in such a way that it clearly plays a central role. The use of larger-diameter curly birch and fractions made from it (e.g. veneer), as well as their combination with small-diameter curly birch and other materials, is nevertheless permitted.

The use of artificial intelligence in product design is permitted, but its use and contribution to the design must be disclosed in the documentation submitted with the competition entry.

Timetable and stages of the competition

The competition period is 30 September 2026–28 February 2027. The competition will be launched on 30 September 2026 through the Finnish Curly Birch Society’s digital channels, and information about the competition will be distributed digitally to members and industry professionals.

The competition materials and the document templates required when submitting entries will be published on the competition website.

Competition entries must be submitted to kilpailu (at) visaseura.fi no later than 28 February 2027.

By 28 February, competitors may also, if they wish, submit a prototype or scale model of their competition entry to the address Visaseura, c/o Liisa Valsta, Paasikivenkatu 1 A 26, 15110 Lahti.

By 31 March, the jury will select 10 entries for exhibition, among which the awarded entries will be selected. The designers of the entries selected for the exhibition will be notified personally. At the same time, it will be determined whether the competitor is able to manufacture or commission a prototype for the exhibition if one has not been submitted previously. If necessary, the Finnish Curly Birch Society will assist in finding a prototype manufacturer.

The winners of the competition will be announced by 10 September 2027 on the competition website and at Habitare and Puumessut. An exhibition featuring the 10 best product proposals will be organised. The prize-giving ceremony and opening of the exhibition will take place at Habitare, and the results will also be announced at Puumessut.

The Finnish Curly Birch Society has reserved dried small-diameter curly birch for competitors in order to facilitate participation. Approximately 40 kg of curly birch per competitor will be provided free of charge in the order in which reservations are received, for as long as the material is available. The dimensions and type of the wood supplied (boards, logs, etc.) will be announced on the competition website.

Reservations for small-diameter curly birch must be submitted by email to kilpailu (at) visaseura.fi. The subject line must read “Pienvisavaraus” (“Small-diameter curly birch reservation”), and the message must include the name, contact details and possible material preference (e.g., only logs) of the competitor or competing organisation. Detailed instructions regarding collection of the material (collection location and dates), shipment at the recipient’s expense, or notification that the distribution of material has ended will be provided by return email.

The Finnish Curly Birch Society will compile an information package on curly birch and its processing on its website at www.visaseura.fi/kilpailu by 15 November 2026.

Competition entries

Designer Information and Anonymity

The competition is anonymous. When submitting a competition entry, the competitor’s/team’s details and the anonymous identification name selected by the competitor must be submitted by email to kilpailu (at) visaseura.fi.

The email must contain the following information:

Name(s) of the competitor/team members
Anonymous identification name
Telephone number
Address
Email address

The competition entry submitted as an email attachment must be identified by the anonymous identification name and the title of the work. The anonymous identification name must consist of at least five letters.

The competition entry must be submitted to kilpailu (at)visaseura.fi by 23:59 on 28 February 2027. The subject line of the email must read: Visa Design Challenge 2027 -kilpailu.

Submission of Materials

The following material must be submitted digitally for the curly birch product competition entry, compressed into a single ZIP file (maximum 10 MB):

Freely formatted presentation material in PDF format
It is recommended that the proposal include a written description of the product (PDF format, maximum 2,000 characters including spaces), explaining the product concept as well as its structural, material and material-treatment solutions, particularly the use and treatment of curly birch and small-diameter curly birch in the product.
Any prototypes or scale models must be delivered to: Visaseura, c/o Liisa Valsta, Paasikivenkatu 1 A 26, 15110 Lahti by 28 February 2027.
As with all other competition entry materials, any scale model or prototype must be identified only by the competitor’s anonymous identification name.

Questions Concerning the Competition

Competitors have the right to submit questions concerning the competition programme. All questions concerning the competition must be submitted by email to kilpailu (at) visaseura.fi by 8 December 2026. Answers to the questions will be published on the competition website by 20 December 2026.

Return of Competition Entries

The organiser will not return entries that are not selected. The organiser undertakes to destroy digitally submitted competition entries after the competition.

The organiser has no right to use any material submitted by competitors without a separate written agreement, with the exception of presenting awarded entries through various communication channels in connection with communications relating to the Visa Design Challenge 2027 competition from the date of announcement onwards.

Prizes

The total prize fund is €6,000, distributed as follows:

First prize: €3,000

Second prize: €2,000

Third prize: €1,000

A curly birch object will be raffled among those participating in the public vote organised at the Habitare exhibition.

The competition jury may award honourable mentions and, by unanimous decision, distribute the prizes in another manner.

Please note that the competition prizes are not tax-exempt .

Competition jury

The competition jury consists of:

Interior architect and designer Tapio Anttila, Chair of the Jury, Tapio Anttila Collection Oy
Design Lead, designer and artisan cabinetmaker Petteri Häkkinen, ISKU Interior
Architect, interior architect and lecturer Karola Sahi, Aalto University
Architect, D.Sc. (Tech.), Professor Hannu Tikka, APRT Oy
Cabinetmaker and entrepreneur Markku Tonttila, Ebonia Design, Finnish Curly Birch Society
Lecturer and Master in Cabinetmaking Marko Varjos, Salpaus Further Education

The part-time competition coordinator is Liisa Valsta, Vice Chair of the Finnish Curly Birch Society and artisan, and the secretary is M.Sc. Tuija Kauppi, Secretary of the Finnish Curly Birch Society.

Organiser of the competition

The competition is organised by the Finnish Curly Birch Society.

Supporters of the competition

The competition has been supported by Huonekalusäätiö, Puumiesten Ammattikasvatussäätiö and the Finnish Curly Birch Society. Other supporters and partners will be announced at a later date.

Rules

§ 1 NAME OF THE COMPETITION

Visa Design Challenge 2027 – High-Quality Curly Birch Products for Serial Production

§ 2 ORGANISER OF THE COMPETITION

The Visa Design Challenge 2027 competition is organised by the Finnish Curly Birch Society, an association founded 70 years ago that today serves as a network for more than 300 professionals and enthusiasts interested in curly birch.

The objective of the Finnish Curly Birch Society is to develop Finland’s curly birch culture across disciplines by promoting the cultivation, use, marketing and research of curly birch.

§ 3 OBJECTIVE OF THE COMPETITION

The objective of the competition is to identify and develop products and product families suitable for serial production and commercial sale using curly birch, and particularly small-diameter curly birch obtained at the first thinning stage (diameter < 15 cm).

The competition is a single-stage product design competition.

§ 4 ELIGIBILITY

The Visa Design Challenge 2027 is a competition organised in Finland and is open to designers, interior architects, architects, companies in the wood products sector, professionals in the wood and woodworking sectors, students in the aforementioned fields, and teams formed by any of these participants.

The competition languages are Finnish and English, but competition entries may also be submitted in English.

Members of the jury, as well as business partners and close relatives of jury members, are not eligible to participate. A person is also disqualified if they have participated in preparing the competition programme or otherwise been involved in organising the competition in such a way that they have a clear advantage over other participants.

Competition entries must not have been previously published. Detailed participation instructions are set out in the competition programme.

§ 5 EVALUATION CRITERIA

An awarded competition entry must fulfil the objective of the competition. The evaluation will place particular emphasis on the suitability of curly birch/small-diameter curly birch for the product and, in particular, on ideas that make effective use of small-diameter curly birch.

Award-winning entries must demonstrate an insightful product concept, innovation in product design and implementation, and novelty.

§ 6 DISQUALIFICATION OF ENTRIES

Entries submitted after the deadline specified in the competition programme or failing to comply with the provisions of the competition programme will be excluded from the competition.

The decision to exclude an entry from the competition shall be made by the competition jury.

§ 7 PRIZES AND PUBLICATION

Three winners will be awarded prizes in the competition. The competition jury may award honourable mentions and, by unanimous decision, distribute the prizes in another manner.

The prizes will be paid to the winners by 15 October 2027.

The prizes are not tax-exempt.

The prize includes the right to use the Visa Design Challenge competition logo in connection with the competition entry.

The designer of an entry selected for the exhibition undertakes to assist in making the entry available for exhibition by producing a prototype or, if delivery of a prototype is not possible, by providing the necessary models or drawings of the product(s) for exhibition purposes.

§ 8 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IN COMPETITION ENTRIES

Copyright and any other intellectual property rights in a competition entry and its components shall remain with the author(s) of the entry.

If a team participates in the competition, the participants must agree in writing among themselves on the allocation of their respective rights to the prize before entering the competition.

The Finnish Curly Birch Society and the Finnish Curly Birch Society’s partners associated with the Visa Design Challenge 2027 competition nevertheless have the right, without separate permission, to present the awarded winning entries, in accordance with good practice and naming the authors, through various communication channels where such presentation is related to the Visa Design Challenge 2027 competition.

Any other permissions shall be agreed separately with the author(s).

The author of an entry warrants that, to the best of their knowledge, the entry does not infringe the rights of others and is not a reproduction of designs previously made public.

A competitor may, if they wish, apply for design protection for their competition entry before submitting the entry.

§ 9 MANUFACTURING AGREEMENT

If a manufacturer is to undertake production of an awarded product series, the competitor(s) and the relevant manufacturing party shall conduct separate negotiations concerning the terms of manufacture.

§ 10 COMPETITION JURY

The winners of the Visa Design Challenge 2027 competition will be selected by the jury named in the competition programme.

The competition jury has approved the competition programme and the competition rules.

§ 11 COORDINATOR AND SECRETARY

As appointed by the Finnish Curly Birch Society, the part-time competition coordinator shall be the association’s vice-chair Liisa Valsta, and the secretary shall be the association’s secretary Tuija Kauppi.

The duties of these officers are to ensure that the anonymity of competitors is maintained, register the entries submitted to the competition, compile the entries for consideration by the jury, and respond to enquiries concerning the competition.

The appointed coordinator and secretary shall have no voting rights in the jury’s proceedings.

§ 12 COMPETITION PROGRAMME

The competition timetable, registration procedure, presentation materials for the products, registration and participation procedures, and prize amounts are set out in the competition programme.

§ 13 LIABILITY FOR COMPETITION ENTRIES

The organiser is responsible for the security of competition entries after receiving the entry.

§ 14 DECLARATION OF ACCEPTANCE OF THE COMPETITION RULES AND PROGRAMME

By participating in the competition, the competitor confirms that they accept the competition rules, the competition programme and the terms and obligations associated with them, and that they possess the rights to the product or product series submitted to the competition.

By participating in the competition, the participant grants the organiser, free of charge, the right to use communication materials produced from the product (e.g. images of the products in printed and electronic formats).

Competition programme and rules