Dense rows of fir trees punctured by frozen lakes and oxblood red cabins; children in snow boots navigating icy pavements; crystal-tipped grass that crunches underfoot. The journey to the studio of Yrj\u00f6 Kukkapuro on the outskirts of Helsinki is fittingly Finnish. But once inside, all Nordic clich\u00e9s end. Rows of...
Left, Yrjö Kukkapuro in his Kauniainen studio, in February 2020. The unique sofa was painted by his friend Pino Milas in the 1970s. Right, ‘Color Experiment’ chair prototype, 2016.Dense rows of fir trees punctured by frozen lakes and oxblood red cabins; children in snow boots navigating icy pavements; crystal-tipped grass that crunches underfoot. The journey to the studio of Yrjö Kukkapuro on the outskirts of Helsinki is fittingly Finnish. But once inside, all Nordic clichés end.
His daughter Isa sits next to him and guides us through the interview. His only child, she is tasked with documenting all her father’s work and assembling his archive – currently a pile of papers over owing from box files behind his desk. His wife Irmeli, a graphic artist, plucks at her mood board on the other side of the studio, too sick to paint anymore. Her decline has been devastating. After an hour of conversation, the colour has drained from his face, and Kukkapuro apologises.
‘Sitting in a Kukkapuro chair is like therapy,’ says Juhani Lemmetti, Kukkapuro collector and founder of gallery Lemmetti in Helsinki. ‘He designs with the lower back in mind.’ Kukkapuro recalls that it was a lecture on ergonomics that influenced his approach. ‘It made me see that making furniture had a physiological and scientific dimension and that has been part of everything I’ve done ever since.
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