Following the First World War, a newly independent Finland was desperate to prove itself to the world and undertook the mammoth task of inventing a new design style for the country.
An Italian design magazine called Domus bolstered this effort by sharing postwar Scandanavian design to a worldwide audience. Amongst the garish coffee machines one particular Finnish name popped up more often than others, Tapio Wirkkala. Tapio was an intensive designer known primarily for his decorative glasswork. He personally photographed his work for the magazine in his own unique style which was popular amongst its readers. The objects were heavily inspired by natural forms, particularly that of the forest, and Finnish mythology.
One such piece was entered into a competition organised by Iittala, a Finnish glassworks company, and won. The Chanterelle vase was the first of 120 products Tapio designed for the company, all of which went into production. This company amongst others were to become household names thanks to Wirkkalas work.
Tapio was renowned for his rigorous and exhaustive design process. After doing hundreds of sketches for a single design, Wirkkala would personally involve himself in every stage of manufacture, even carving industrial moulds by hand using his trusty carving knife. Tapio even designed several of these carving knives (or ‘puukko’s) in his lifetime.
This involvement with the process gives Tapio’s work its most valuable trait, the way in which it conveys the designers hand despite being mass-produced. Tapio and his prolific body of work was internationally recognised by the time he passed away on the 19th May 1985.
LWS Design Blog 