Designers

Authentic and distinctive Finnish design is the backbone of Secto Design. Discover the talents behind it: Seppo Koho and Ilkka Kauppinen.

Architect Seppo Koho 

”I truly enjoy turning sketches into wooden prototypes with my own hands. Finding a concrete solution to implementing a detail after persistent experimenting is a fascinating moment!” says the award-winning architect Seppo Koho, who has designed most lamps of the Secto Design collection.
The designer leans on a table, with rolls of drafting paper and a desk lamp nearby.

Seppo koho has designed the majority of Secto Design lamps.

Architectonic touch

Secto Design has collaborated closely with architect Seppo Koho (b. 1967) since the company’s founding in 1995 — initially on furniture and, from 2002 onwards, exclusively on lamps. A promising interior designer freshly graduated from the University of Art and Design Helsinki at the start of the collaboration, Koho later expanded his expertise by earning an architecture degree from Tampere University of Technology. Today, he is an internationally recognised lighting designer, running his own design studio.

Koho’s architectonic touch is evident throughout the Secto Design lighting collection. He describes his lamps as illuminated spaces viewed from the outside — much like cosy houses radiating a warm glow on a dark evening. Versatile and timeless, the luminaires suit both public and private interiors, embodying the principles of good design that have guided the company’s philosophy from the very beginning.

The designer stands beside a woodworking machine, holding blocks of wood.

Seppo Koho makes the first prototypes by hand.

Design philosophy

Seppo Koho not only designs the lamps but also handcrafts the first prototypes himself. He has always been fascinated by wood and the possibilities it offers as a living material. Crafting a wooden prototype of a new lamp often resolves design challenges that no computer drawing can solve.

Koho aims to create lamps that provide harmonious light without the harsh glare of visible bulbs. In all Secto Design lamps, the light source is hidden, allowing the light itself to emerge through soft, intricate patterns on surrounding surfaces. The play of light and shadow, combined with the warmth of birch, gives Koho’s minimalist designs their poetic allure — a quality that continues to captivate people around the world.

Designer Ilkka Kauppinen 

"The moment of discovery – when a hypothesis turns into genuine understanding – gives me great joy. Whether I’m proven right or wrong is not the point. What matters is understanding how things work,” says Ilkka Kauppinen, designer of the Adilo pendant lamp.
The designer stands behind the table, holding the cable of a pendant lamp. On the table, there is a disc made of plywood rings.

Adilo, a flat-packed pendant lamp, emerged through exploration and perseverance.

Insight through the process

The collaboration between Secto Design and Ilkka Kauppinen (b. 1988) builds on shared values of integrity, craftsmanship, and experimentation. Trained first as a wood artisan in Joensuu and later as an industrial designer at the LAB Institute of Design and Fine Arts, Kauppinen approaches each project with equal measures of precision and curiosity. These roots in hands-on making continue to define his practice, where physical prototyping is not merely a tool but a way of thinking.

Having explored everything from urban farming to greenhouse technology, Kauppinen describes his career as an ongoing experiment — one that includes missteps, small victories, and, ultimately, the Adilo pendant lamp, developed in partnership with Secto Design and launched in 2025.

The designer sits on a sofa, holding a magazine. A lamp hangs in the corner.

Ilkka Kauppinen’s curious mind and openness guide his approach to design.

Shaped by curiosity

Kauppinen’s design process begins with a hypothesis, which he tests through sketching, modelling, and, above all, building. Prototypes are essential to discovering how an object behaves in space — something that can never be fully understood through drawings or virtual models alone. The process often challenges intuition, revealing unexpected truths and reshaping the original concept.

Central to his work is the use of wood, chosen for both its structural and aesthetic properties. In the Adilo lamp, the pale surface of the ultra-thin birch plywood softly reflects and diffuses light, shielding direct glare while allowing a warm glow to pass through. The result is an inviting atmosphere that suits both public and private settings – a testament to his belief in design that enlightens in multiple ways. “I want people to experience wonder and moments of insight. The world truly is wondrous”.

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