4/4
The spirit of giving runs deep in the Finns, originated in the hometown of Santa. Architect Professor Teemu, dropped me a message with exciting news:“Chuck, I am coming back.” Teemu and I have formed a rapport since his first visit in Guangzhou, where he was invited as a visiting professor from a nearby campus.
For three years, Professor Teemu couldn’t come back due to border closures. In his last visit, he designed a Christmas installation for LOCK CHUCK, marking a shared journey between us.
“I am so happy for you. Look at this, you are the pioneer of the street, you made it alive!” said Professor Teemu. As we were catching up, I excitedly shared the news about our next project. “We are lucky, and after all these years, we are charting new trails to chase our dreams - working our best to set foot in our favourite city, Tokyo.” “Well, I can’t help you on everything. But at least in my realm, I will do all I can do. I have already come up with the design idea for your new shop.” Teemu’s offer couldn’t have been more perfect.
“That can’t be better. We have benefited from the culture integration and the meaningful connections we’ve made, and before setting up a physical new shop in Tokyo, we plan to do a world tour, to our favourite cities to celebrate these meaningful connections.” said I. Teemu grinned: “Do you know that the Finnish design circle is quite small? I will help you build the bridges with some Finnish brands, and you can collaborate for your pop-up in Helsinki.”“Then I hope I can make it in Christmas time, and we celebrate this with Santa.”.
