'Pirkka' Chair by Ilmari Tapiovaara, Finland 1950s
£450.00
'Pirkka' Chair by Ilmari Tapiovaara, Finland 1950s
£450.00
A Finnish 'Pirkka' chair with a pine back, two-part seat and ebonised supports, designed by Ilmari Tapiovaara
Dimensions H75 cm, W37 cm, seat height of 43 cm.
Born in 1914 into the family of a forester, where culture and creativity was appreciated. Ilmari studied at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in Finland. Going on to work with, and be heavily influenced by revered architects Alvar Aalto and Le Corbusier.
Tapiovaara believed High-quality and reasonably-priced objects belonged to all. His aspirations and career were interrupted by the war. However he was still able to gain experience as an interior designer during the trench warfare period when he became head of the production office of the 5th division in the forests of East Karelia. The office produced building and interior solutions for the army. Under Tapiovaara’s guidance, dugouts, mess halls, cattle sheds, utensils and pieces of furniture were created. The work was done with limited tools and the wood was taken from the surrounding forest. Tapiovaara learned how a tool shapes a product and vice versa. “I had been in a good school, evidently the best college of my life,” he reminisced later on.
Even though Tapiovaara created many different products during his career, he believed the chair to be the key to optimum interior design. “He designed chairs again and again. He remade chairs and formed whole product families through them, with shelving and tables”.
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