Tapio Wirkkala
{{short description|Finnish designer and sculptor}}
{{Infobox artist
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| name = Tapio Wirkkala
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| image = Tapio-Wirkkala-1959.jpg
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| caption = Wirkkala in c.1959
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| birth_place = Hanko, Finland
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| death_date = {{Death date and age|1985|05|19|1915|06|02|df=yes}}
| death_place = Helsinki, Finland
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| spouse = Rut Bryk
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Tapio Veli Ilmari Wirkkala (2 June 1915 – 19 May 1985) was a Finnish designer and sculptor, a major figure of post-war design.
Life and work
Wirkkala was born in Hanko in 1915. He attended the Töölö co-educational school in Helsinki. His father, Ilmari Wirkkala, was a cemetery architect, and mother Selma (née Vanhatalo) a wood-carver. His sister Helena Korvenkontio and brother Tauno Wirkkala were also artists.{{cite web|url=https://kansallisbiografia.fi/english/person/1394|title=Wirkkala, Tapio (1915–1985)|publisher=National Biography of Finland|accessdate=17 June 2019}}
Wirkkala's work ranges from designs of plastic ketchup bottles and metalware to glass, ceramics and plywood in a range of styles. His success as a glass designer began in 1946 when he designed the Kantarelli vase for Iittala, and the mass-produced Tapio collection was launched in 1954. His range was immense, including glassware, stoneware, jewellery, and furniture for mass production, as well as individual sculptures in several media. He designed commemorative postage stamps{{Cite web |last= |date=2019-03-05 |title=Exhibition TAPIO WIRKKALA {{!}} Museo del Vetro Murano {{!}} MUVE |url=https://museovetro.visitmuve.it/en/mostre-en/archivio-mostre-en/exhibition-tapio-wirkkala/2019/03/18305/exhibition-2/ |access-date=2022-11-28 |website=Museo del Vetro |language=it-IT}} for the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, and also designed the Finnish markka banknotes introduced in 1955. In the early 1950s, Wirkkala worked as the artistic director at the Helsinki Central School of Industrial Design.{{Cite web|url=https://www.finnishdesignshop.com/Tapio_Wirkkala-d-39.html|title=Tapio Wirkkala design|website=www.finnishdesignshop.com|access-date=2019-08-08}} The WIR lightbulb designed by Wirkkala for {{ill|Airam Electric (Finnish manufacturer)|lt=Airam Electric|fi|Airam}} was awarded the Grand Prix at the XII Milan Triennial in 1960.{{Cite web |title=WIR lampan som Tapio Wirkkala |url=https://www.nortronic.no/userfiles/file/LED%20Lyskilder%202018/Airam_b-to-b_Wirkkala-K2_WIR85_36W17.pdf |website=Nortronic AS |language=no}}
Among his most famous work have been the designs for the Finlandia vodka bottle (1970–1999){{cite news |last1=Vodka |first1=Finlandia |title=Finlandia Vodka Celebrates 40th Anniversary |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/finlandia-vodka-celebrates-40th-anniversary-82804622.html |access-date=21 May 2022 |work=www.prnewswire.com |date=Jan 27, 2010 |language=en}} and for Iittala's Ultima Thule set of kitchen glasses.{{cite news |last1=Vaija |first1=Mikko |title=Ultima Thule and the feel of material {{!}} Design Stories |url=https://www.finnishdesignshop.com/design-stories/classic/ultima-thule-and-the-feel-of-material |access-date=21 May 2022 |work=Finnish Design Shop COM |date=23 October 2017 |language=en}} Both glassware items feature a dripping icicle look, and in the case of the Iittala's glassware it is said to have taken thousands of hours to develop a glassblowing technique that would produce the effect.{{cite news |last1=Dunn |first1=William |title=Design classics: the stories behind the legends |url=https://www.theweek.co.uk/design/108424/design-classics-the-stories-behind-the-legends |access-date=21 May 2022 |work=The Week UK |date=20 October 2020 |language=en}}
Wirkkala did much of his initial design work using a traditional Finnish carving knife, the puukko. Wirkkala designed his own version of the knife, the Tapio Wirkkala Puukko, which was manufactured by Hackman Cutlery and marketed by Brookstone in the US in the early-1970s.{{cite web |title=knife; sheath |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_2012-8022-3 |website=The British Museum |access-date=21 May 2022 |language=en}}
Wirkkala died in Helsinki on 19 May 1985 and was buried in the artists' area of the Hietaniemi Cemetery; his wife, Rut Bryk, was later buried next to him.{{cite web| url = http://www.helsinginseurakuntayhtyma.fi/includes/file_download.asp?deptid=3923&fileid=10026&file=020121A_Taiteilijamäki_10.pdf&pdf=1| title = Taiteilijainmäki V21A| publisher = Helsingin seurakuntayhtymä| date = 25 April 2015| access-date = 20 February 2022| archive-date = 14 July 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210714143856/https://www.helsinginseurakunnat.fi/includes/file_download.asp?deptid=3923&fileid=10026&file=020121A_Taiteilijam%C3%A4ki_10.pdf&pdf=1| url-status = dead}}
Awards and distinctions
- 1st and 2nd place, Bill Designing Competition of Bank of Finland 1947{{cite web |title=Finland 5 Markka banknote 1963 |url=https://www.worldbanknotescoins.com/2015/04/finland-5-markka-banknote-1963.html |website=World Banknotes and Coins |access-date=21 May 2022}}{{cite web |last1=Richardson |first1=Lucy Ryder |title=Tapio Wirkkala |url=https://insidemodernism.co.uk/2019/09/27/wirkkala/ |website=Inside Modernism |access-date=21 May 2022 |date=27 September 2019}}
- 4 awards, Designing Olympic Stamps 1951, for the 1952 Summer Olympics{{cite web|url=http://olympic-museum.de/stamps/stamps1952.htm|title=Postage stamps Olympic Games 1952 Helsinki|author=Wagner, Juergen|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130204032202/http://olympic-museum.de/stamps/stamps1952.htm|archivedate=2013-02-04}}
- 3 Grand Prix at the 9th Milan Triennuial, 1951{{cite web |last1=Forth |first1=Jonas |title=The golden age of Finnish design at the Triennales |url=https://jonasforth.com/2015/07/26/the-golden-age-of-finnish-design-at-the-triennales/ |website=Forthzine |access-date=21 May 2022 |language=en |date=26 July 2015}}
- 3 Grand Prix, at the 10th Milan Triennuial, 1954
- Lunning Prize 1951{{Cite web|url=http://danishdesignreview.com/the-lunning-prize|title=the Lunning Prize|website=danish architecture and design review}}
- Order of the Lion of Finland -medal 1955{{cite web |title=Tapio Wirkkala - The Soul of Finland |url=https://www.skandium.com/blogs/news/tapio-wirkkala-the-soul-of-finland |website=Skandium London |access-date=21 May 2022}}
- 1st place, the World Fair in Brussels 1957{{cite web|url=http://finland.fi/Public/default.aspx?contentid=160074&nodeid=37598&culture=en-US|title=Tapio Wirkkala: Applying the Finnish approach to design|work=thisisFINLAND|date=10 January 2012 }}
- Society of Industrial Artists Medal of the Year 1958{{cite web |title=Finnish designer Tapio Wirkkala holding his award from the Society of... |url=https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/finnish-designer-tapio-wirkkala-holding-his-award-from-the-news-photo/551439403 |website=Getty Images |date=27 April 2015 |access-date=21 May 2022 |language=en-us}}
- Grand Prix and Gold Medal, Milan 1960;{{cite web |title=Tapio Wirkkala |url=https://anibou.com.au/designer/tapio-wirkkala/ |website=ANIBOU |access-date=21 May 2022}} Silver Medal, Milan 1963
- Domus Golden Obelisk, Milan 1963
- Gold Medal of the President of Italy, Faenza International Ceramics Competition 1963, 1966, 1967, 1969 and 1973{{cite web|url=http://www.wirkkala.fi/e_wirkkala/Avards.html|title=Avards|publisher=}}
- Premio Internazionale Vicenza 1963, 1966 and 1967
- Honorary Royal Designer of Industry, London 1964
- Honorary Prize, the Finnish Cultural Foundation 1968
- Honorary doctorate, Royal College of Arts, London 1971
- Honorary Member of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, London 1971
- Academy of Finland's honorary title of academician 1972
- Teosto organization's medal for Creative Work 1980
- Prince Eugen Medal, Stockholm 1980
Gallery
File:Kanttarelli - vase - 1946.jpg|Kanttarelli vase (1946)
File:Tapio - glassware - 1952.jpg|Tapio glassware (1952)
File:Tapio wirkkala per soinne e kni, vassoio foglia, legno, 1951-54.jpg|Leaf tray for Soinne et Kni (1951–1954)
File:AIRAM Tapio Wirkkala.jpg|Lightbulbs for AIRAM (1959)
File:Paadarin jää.png|Sculptures from the series Paadarin jää (1960)
File:Don't Litter Vase by Tapio Wirkkala for Rosenthal.jpg|Porcelain "paper bag" vase for Rosenthal (c.1970)
File:Ultima Thule1.jpg|Ultima Thule glassware for Iittala
File:Hackman-puukko.jpg|Puukko hand knife
File:Tunturi Fell.jpg|Tunturi, glass sculpture
File:Tapio Wurkkala - Caravelle cutlery.jpg|Caravelle cutlery
File:Wirkkala for Venini.jpg|Bottles for Venini
File:Wirkkala 1952.jpg|Stamp for the Helsinki summer Olympics
File:Tapio Wirkkala poster exhibition MX.jpg|Poster of Tapio Wirkkala's exhibition, Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, July–September 1982
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.wirkkalabryk.fi/ Tapio Wirkkala – Rut Bryk Foundation.]
- [http://www.wirkkala.fi/e_wirkkala/tw_2.html Tapio Wirkkala website.]
- [http://www.iittala.com/Designers/Tapio-Wirkkala/c/Tapio%20Wirkkala Wirkkala biography at Iittala.com.]
- [http://www.designlasi.com/en/category/muotoilijat/wirkkala-tapio Glass items designed by Tapio Wirkkala] at Finnish glass fan site designlasi.com.
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Category:People from Hanko, Finland
Category:Finnish interior designers
Category:Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture alumni
Category:Academic staff of the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture
Category:Recipients of the Order of the Lion of Finland