Born in 1967, Seppo Koho is a Finnish architect and the designer for Secto Design lamps.
Seppo studied at the University of Industrial Arts in Helsinki and at the Tampere University of Technology. In 1995, shortly after Seppo graduated, he crossed paths with Tuula Jusélius, who was seeking a designer Secto Design — a new company that produced furniture made of innovative glue-laminated wood. The very first time Tuula and Seppo met, they knew they were kindred spirits: they both share a respect for Northern wood, Scandinavian design, and professional woodworking.
Customers of Secto Design, however, complained about not being able to find suitable lamps to match the furniture. Tuula noticed the same: there simply were no wooden lamps on the market. So Seppo Koho received a commission. The result was the Secto pendant lamp, which to this day remains the backbone of the collection.
Finding a manufacturer capable of serial production of the wooden lamps was difficult, too, until Tuula and Seppo discovered cabinetmaker Heikki Saastamoinen, from the town of Heinola. He developed a method that allowed the lamps to be manufactured serially by hand.
In the early 2000s, Secto Design decided to shift its focus from furniture to lamps. Following the Secto family, Seppo also produced a great number of new lamp collections, including Octo, Victo, Puncto, Kontro, Owalo, and his latest, the spiralling Aspiro.
Heikki Saastamoinen's small workshop has grown into a factory and a prominent woodworking hub in the Heinola area. The new models have generated work for other manufacturers as well, and in addition to Heinola Secto Design lamps are now also made in Järvenpää. Altogether the supply network includes some twenty partner companies and contractors.
Today, Seppo’s lamps can be spotted in important buildings and museums across the world.
