Iconic Finnish chair designer Yrjö Kukkapuro dies | Australian Markets

Yrjö Kukkapuro, a famend Finnish designer whose postmodern model of chairs graced ready rooms, places of work and residing rooms throughout Finland in addition to collections within the Museum of Trendy Artwork in New York and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, has died. He was 91.

His death on Saturday at his home exterior Helsinki was confirmed by his daughter, Isa Kukkapuro-Enbom, in an electronic mail to The Related Press on Sunday.

The trigger of death was not disclosed.

“Almost every Finn has sat on a chair he designed — at a metro station, in a bank, at school, or in a library,” Studio Kukkapuro stated.

“Yrjö Kukkapuro never stopped designing and coming up with new ideas. Until the very end, he pondered a concept of ​​his new chair, the plan of which was clear in his mind. His assistant didn’t have time to make drawings of the chair.”

In a profession spanning more than 70 years, Kukkapuro’s chairs have been lauded for his or her consolation, functionalism and ergonomics in addition to their design, and featured names like Ateljee, Karuselli-chair, Lengthy Chair and, his most well-known, the Experiment.

Designed in 1982, the Experiment chair was thought of avant-garde however finally grew to become commercially profitable and was seen as a key turning level for the postmodern furnishings model.

The Experiment consists of ornamental, wavy armrests in vibrant colors, an upholstered back and backside, and its signature angled seat regardless of the body being flat on the ground.

Though initial manufacturing ceased within the Nineties, European furnishings design model Hem sought permission from Kukkapuro in 2021 to breed it with minor changes to the size and construction.

“We are saddened by the news of Yrjö’s passing, and our thoughts are with his family,” Hem founder and chief government Petrus Palmér stated.

“He was a furniture design trailblazer, and showed us that a non-conformist approach is the only way to achieve a lasting legacy.”

The Experiment chair retailed for up to 2,399 euros ($A3,954) on Hem’s web site Sunday, the place a description known as it “timeless, bold, and as compelling today as the day it was created”.

“In the Experiment Chair, Kukkapuro sought to add art to functionalism, to satisfy romantic tastes alongside meeting essential needs,” the outline reads.

“The result is startling, authentic, a hero of twentieth-century design.”

Kukkapuro designed his household’s studio and home to function a wave-shaped roof and floor-to-ceiling glass home windows.

Constructed within the late Nineteen Sixties for him and his spouse, artist Irmeli Kukkapuro, who died in 2022, it is scheduled to turn out to be a museum subsequent 12 months.