For the first time after a gap of six years, the Singapore Garden Festival organized the competition Floral Windows to the World Championship again. With 16 competitors, it was a feast for the eye. All the talented designers brought out the best they could and the results were stunning. In an interview with the winner Ahti Lyra for Estonia, what resonates most is the flawless organization of the event, which made it pleasant and creative work for everyone.
Floral Windows to the World Championship
Ahti Lyra from Estonia has won Gold at the Floral Windows to the World Championship, a prestigious event held during the Singapore Garden Festival. The 16 talented participants from across the globe, faced off in six live challenges judged by experts and observed by festival visitors. The showdown saw five competitors—Hung Mo Joo, also known as Momo (Republic of Korea), Hiroto Inoue (Japan), Stefan van Berlo (Belgium), Tamás Mezöffy (Hungary), and Ahti Lyra (Estonia)—competing on stage. Ahti Lyra emerged victorious and of course, Thursd brings you his story.
Ahti Lyra About His Experience in Singapore
Ahti has been many things in many competitions, from assistant to competitor to just being a visitor. That gives him a good idea when an organization is impeccable.
Q. What do you think of the way Floral Windows to the World Championship (FWWC) was organized?
"I have participated as a contestant, assistant, or regular viewer in many high-profile florist championships, and I can truly say that I felt welcomed as a competitor. Everything was organized for competitors so we could focus on doing our best when the competition started. It may seem irrelevant to outsiders, but having a controlled temperature at the venue, a sturdy roof over your booth, walking distance to your hotel, and many food options nearby make a big difference in reducing competition stress."
Q. For your first task "My Country and My Home", where did you find your inspiration?
"For the first task "My Country and My Home," I sought inspiration for all three prepared tasks from Estonian culture. I wanted to showcase what makes my tiny home country special. I was inspired by the burnt colors of the traditional Estonian smoke sauna, freshly baked black bread from my grandmother, summer solstice traditions, and, of course, our wild nature. Our little country has so much richness. And so for all my tasks, this had to be the overall theme.
I used natural cow bones for the first task, which worked well with this theme and as vessels for large flowers. Of course, working with “water tubes” made of keratin presents some challenges, but I had previous experience with unusual vases. To treat them properly to be able to use with water and stay clean, was necessary. The language of the design had to be mine, an Estonian language."
Q. Your table design also had the same feeling as the Estonian Country?
"For my table design, I wanted to keep it really cool and simple, with the straight black lines the smoked sauna had its influence again. The yellow flowers are symbol of our happy people of Estonia. Always bright and shining."
.jpg "Ahti Lyra FWWC in Singapore Photo by Alex Choi")
Q. What about your bridal bouquet? Did you use a new technique?
"For the bridal bouquet, I was inspired by sci-fi movies and wanted to recreate the feeling of how humans 500 years from now might preserve floristry. In my simple hand-tied bouquet, every stem is placed in a glass tube, (glass straws which I closed in the bottom), and water droplets are created with glue. It took many trials to prevent the glue from turning cloudy in contact with moisture. And I glued those glass straws together in a special way, which I want to keep a little secret.
As a designer, I need to evolve. I always want to try new techniques and materials, though sometimes I feel that I move on too quickly without perfecting the technique. If you looked at the bridal bouquet from afar, it looked rather simple, but up close you could see the complexity.
Participating in the competition made me focus more and helped me be more creative. In a regular setting, I probably would have settled for less, but this time I wanted to give my 100% and more. Although the championship awards one person the gold, there are other ways to win. After finishing my bridal bouquet, I already felt like a winner: I had won a battle with myself."
