Yrjö Kukkapuro
{{Short description|Finnish designer and architect (1933–2025)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox architect
| name = Yrjö Kukkapuro
| honorific_suffix = RDI
| image = Yrjo-Kukkapuro-1964.jpg
| caption = Kukkapuro in 1964
| birth_date = {{birth date|1933|04|6|df=y}}
| birth_place = Viipurin maalaiskunta, Finland
| death_date = {{death date and age|2025|02|08|1933|04|6|df=y}}
| death_place = Kauniainen, Finland
| nationality = Finnish
| alma_mater = Institute of Industrial Arts{{cite web |title=Yrjö Kukkapuro |url=https://www.artek.fi/en/company/designers/yrjö-kukkapuro |website=Artek.fi |access-date=9 August 2020}}
| awards = {{unbulleted list|Pro Finlandia medal (1983)|Honorary Royal Designer for Industry (2002)}}
| spouse = Irmeli Kukkapuro
| website = {{URL|http://kukkapuro.fi/}}
}}
Yrjö Kukkapuro RDI (6 April 1933 – 8 February 2025) was a Finnish interior architect and furniture designer.
Education and academic career
Kukkapuro studied design at the Institute of Industrial Arts in Helsinki in the late 1950s, qualifying as an interior architect in 1958.
In the 1970s he returned to the Institute, to work as a Professor and, for two years, as the Rector.
He held Honorary Professorships at universities including Jiangnan (Wuxi) and Nanjing, as well as an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Art and Design Helsinki (now part of the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture).
Design work
File:Karuselli chair by Yrjo Kukkapuro.jpg
Kukkapuro's design philosophy centred around ergonomics.
He was best known for his chairs, of which perhaps the most famous is an easy chair called Karuselli ('Carousel') from 1964,{{cite news |title=Paraboloid Pad: Yrjö Kukkapuro's Unusual Helsinki Home |url=https://pinupmagazine.org/articles/the-helsinki-home-of-finnish-design-legend-yrjo-kukkapuro |access-date=9 August 2020 |issue=Fall-Winter 2015/2016 |publisher=Pin-Up}} which is included in the permanent collection of major museums including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.{{cite news |title="Niin kauan kuin pystyssä pysyn ja järki toimii, niin enköhän mä työskentele", sanoo Yrjö Kukkapuro, 87 vuotta |trans-title="As long as I can stand up and my mind functions, I guess I'll continue working" says Yrjö Kukkapuro, 87 |url=https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-11474517 |publisher=Yle |date=9 August 2020 |language=fi}}{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=10 February 2025 |title=Yrjö Kukkapuro, renowned Finnish chair designer, dies aged 91 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/feb/10/yrjo-kukkapuro-renowned-finnish-chair-designer-dies-aged-91 |access-date=10 February 2025 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} It was nominated as the most comfortable chair in the world by The New York Times in 1974,{{cite web |title=Designer Yrjö Kukkapuro for Apartamento Magazine #9 |url=https://the189.com/design/designer-yrjo-kukkapuro-for-apartamento-magazine-9/ |website=The189.com |publisher=OEN |access-date=9 August 2020}} and fellow designer Sir Terence Conran has called it his "favourite place to sit because it is so comfortable".{{cite book |last1=Conran |first1=Terence |title=Plain Simple Useful: The Essence of Conran Style |date=11 June 2020 |publisher=Hachette UK |page=103 |isbn=9781840918175 |edition=Updated |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=syHXDwAAQBAJ&q=Yrj%C3%B6+Kukkapuro&pg=PA103 |access-date=9 August 2020}}{{cite news |title=Inside the Country Estate of Britain's Doyen of Design |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2019/05/sir-terence-conran-retail-design-and-decor |access-date=9 August 2020 |publisher=Vanity Fair |date=2 May 2019}}
Kukkapuro exhibited in dozens of solo and group exhibitions around the world.
Personal life and death
Yrjö Kukkapuro was married to graphic artist Irmeli Kukkapuro ({{nee}} Salminen) since 1954. The couple built a home studio in Kauniainen, designed by Yrjö Kukkapuro and his long-time collaborator, engineer Eero Paloheimo. Irmeli died in 2022.
Kukkapuro died after a long illness at his residence outside Helsinki, on 8 February 2025, at the age of 91.{{cite news |title=Muotoilija Yrjö Kukkapuro on kuollut 91-vuotiaana |url=https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000011021784.html |access-date=9 February 2025 |work=Helsingin Sanomat |date=9 February 2025 |language=fi}}{{cite news|url=https://apnews.com/article/kukkapuro-finland-chair-designer-dies-ebf19315ca49994b799f72c057458d59 |title=Finnish designer Yrjö Kukkapuro, whose postmodern chairs graced waiting rooms and museums, dies |date=9 February 2025 |access-date=9 February 2025 |work=AP News}} According to his daughter, he kept working until the end, asking only a week before his death for his assistant to visit, because he had a nearly-finished chair design he wanted to discuss.
Awards and recognition
In 1983, Kukkapuro was awarded the {{ill|Pro Finlandia|fi}} medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland.{{cite web |title=Suomen Leijonan Pro Finlandia -mitalin saajat |url=https://ritarikunnat.fi/ritarikunnat/palkitut/suomen-leijonan-pro-finlandia-mitalin-saajat-aakkosjarjestyksessa/ |website=Ritarikunnat.fi |publisher=The Orders of the White Rose of Finland and the Lion of Finland |access-date=9 February 2025 |language=fi}}
In 2002, he was appointed Honorary Royal Designer for Industry of the UK's Royal Society of Arts.{{cite web |title=Current Honorary Royal Designers for Industry |url=https://www.thersa.org/about/royal-designers-for-industry/current-honorary-royal-designers-for-industry |publisher=Royal Society of Arts |access-date=9 February 2025 |archive-date=20 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250120165045/https://www.thersa.org/about/royal-designers-for-industry/current-honorary-royal-designers-for-industry }}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://kukkapuro.fi/ Personal website.]
- [http://areena.yle.fi/tv/1297757/ Arjen designia -juttukeikalla Yrjö Kukkapuro.] Yleisradio.
{{Authority control (arts)}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kukkapuro, Yrjo}}
Category:Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture alumni
Category:Academic staff of the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture
Category:Pro Finlandia Medals of the Order of the Lion of Finland