An Exciting Design Project in Finland

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From Design Forum Finland website

(http://www.designforum.fi/pressrelease?pressrelease=23550149):

"Modern Historic 1900 Furniture from Finnish masters - never before seen in public On 27 October, the Modern Historic 1900 Collection of furniture will be unveiled at Design Forum Finland, followed by the release of the accompanying illustrative book “Furniture by Finnish Masters – background, tales and moods” by Kari-Otso Nevaluoma and Antti J. Kallio, published by Paasilinna. Modern Historic 1900 is the outcome of a burning passion and relentless determination, in other words, the same qualities that are vital for the greatest achievements in design work. The collection and the book represent Antti J. Kallio’s selection of Finnish furniture which has had to travel an unusual path to reach the public. The Modern Historic 1900 Collection is compiled of furniture that has so far never been in production. Now this signature furniture will be available to the public. “I have been inspired in this project by my almost child-like conviction that anyone driven by a creative passion in some field of art is able to release it in something extraordinary, why not in designing furniture”, says Kallio. The Modern Historic 1900 Collection and the book include select furniture from the most distinguished greats in Finnish arts: Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Jean Sibelius, Aulis Blomstedt, Oiva Kallio, Kimmo Kaivanto, Timo Sarpaneva, Kimmo Pyykkö, Yrjö Kukkapuro, Eero Aarnio and Björn Weckström. Both the Modern Historic 1900 Collection and the book will be on display at the beginning of the design year 2012 in Paris."

The following images and text are from website 1900 Modern Historic 

(http://1900.fi/?lang=en)

VEISTOS (Sculpture), Kukkapuro/Pyykkö (1959 / 1977) Yrjö Kukkapuro designed the original prototype chair in 1959. This work of his student times ended up in a junk yard through a friend. In the 1960s, Kimmo Pyykkö, known for his sculpture made of junk metal, found it from the yard and cast it as part of his own piece of work. Now a bas relief of Kimmo Pyykkö with an engraving from the original piece of sculpture has been attached to the chair which is made of solid metal.

FENIX table, Björn Weckström (1973) A sofa and a dining table that Björn Weckström had made for his own home in the 1970s. A few dining tables were manufactured but only one sofa table for the artist’s own use. Both the glass cover and the acrylic table legs made in a heated wooden mold carry the artist’s signature. The table is available in two sizes.

FENIX chair, Björn Weckström (1976) A sofa and a dining table that Björn Weckström had made for his own home in the 1970s. A few dining tables were manufactured but only one sofa table for the artist’s own use. Both the glass cover and the acrylic table legs made in a heated wooden mold carry the artist’s signature. The table is available in two sizes.

TS-4 Chair, Timo Sarpaneva (1970) During 1970 – 71, Timo Sarpaneva designed a series of tube furniture of which miniature models were prepared on the scale 1/10. The designs never ended in production as Sarpaneva was fully occupied with a large order from Rörstrand. The furniture was also utopistic in terms of its production methods and would have posed a real challenge to the tools used in the 1970s. The strength of the steel tube and the bending curves are a combination that is still very difficult to produce.

CHAMPION, Eero Aarnio (1970) Eero Aarnio designed the Champion chair to his friend Charles Stendig in the USA in 1969. The chair appeared on the cover of the magazine Avotakka in September 1970. Charles Stendig intended to put the chair into production but it got lost while en route to New York. Because of the materials used and the method of production it has taken 40 years before we are able to welcome the chair at last.

KVARTTI, Aulis Blomstedt (1961) The body of Kvartti is made of thin chrome plated steel and it is assembled by Ilpo Niiranen in Levyx Oy, Klaukkala. Because the metallic body is extremely thin compared to the mass of the seat cushioning, the body is strengthened by a solid board. The slim legs are supported by solid steel rods inside the steel tubes. When the body is finished, it is upholstered with four separate cushions covered by black leather at the Halonen upholstery in Helsinki. Antero Saarinen, the master upholsterer, builds a box of veneer inside the cushions to help them maintain the firmness and the shape as planned by the designer.

POHJA, Oiva Kallio (1930) Oiva Kallio designed the building of the Pohjola Insurance Company in the late 1920s and the building was completed in Kaisaniemi, Helsinki in 1930. With its ribbon-window arrangement, the building was the first business construction in the functionalist style in Scandinavia. The steel furniture designed by Kallio to furnish the customer service areas of the insurance company was inspired by the Bauhaus-style. The Pohja stools made according to the original design are now available for the first time.

KILPI chair, Kimmo Kaivanto (1954) Kimmo Kaivanto, sculptor, painter and graphic designer, designed the Kilpi-chair for his own use in the mid-1950s. Besides the chair, the series included side tables, a standing ash-tray and a candle-holder. The original chair has become lost but Kimmo Kaivanto redesigned the chair for the Modern Historic 1900-collection. At the same time, he reworked the materials used to produce the chair.

TS-1 table, Timo Sarpaneva (1970) During 1970 – 71, Timo Sarpaneva designed a series of tube furniture of which miniature models were prepared on the scale 1/10. The designs never ended in production as Sarpaneva was fully occupied with a large order from Rörstrand. The furniture was also utopistic in terms of its production methods and would have posed a real challenge to the tools used in the 1970s. The strength of the steel tube and the bending curves are a combination that is still very difficult to produce.

AINOLA, Jean Sibelius (1909) Aino and Jean Sibelius moved into Ainola in 1904 and their home is furnished with plenty of furniture designed by the composer. One example is the corner cabinet which the maestro designed for the living room downstairs for Mrs Sibelius to keep her scores in.

IRIS, Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1899) The exhibition pavilion of Finland in the World Fair of 1900 in Paris was designed by the trio of architects Gesellius-Lindgren-Saarinen. The interior of the so called Iris-room was designed by Akseli Gallen-Kallela. This room was later to become the foundation for the Finnish Jugend-style as well as the modern Finnish furniture design. In the Iris-stool Akseli Gallen-Kallela wanted to test alternative stool-leg designs and ornamentation which was repeated in the textiles of the Finnish pavilion at the World Fair.

Furniture by Finnish Masters- the book Furniture by Finnish Masters – background, tales and moods have arisen from the burning passion and strong will, the same materials as the greatest design achievements. “I have been inspired in this project by my almost child-like conviction that anyone driven by a creative passion in some field of art is able to release it in something extraordinary, why not in designing furniture”, says Kallio. The Modern Historic 1900 Collection and the book include select furniture from the most distinguished greats in Finnish arts: Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Jean Sibelius, Aulis Blomstedt, Oiva Kallio, Kimmo Kaivanto, Timo Sarpaneva, Kimmo Pyykkö, Yrjö Kukkapuro, Eero Aarnio and Björn Weckström. The book is now available in finnish. English edition will be published soon.

Björn Weckström in the book amongst his sculpture.