Yrjö Kukkapuro armchair, model '418', for Haimi Finland late 1960s.

This “418” armchair by Finnish designer “The Grand Old Man”, Yrjö Kukkapuro, has a fiberglass shell with thick cushions in original brown terracotta leather that has aged beautifully over time. Together with the iconic Model 412 ‘Karuselli’, the 418 chair was part of a family of innovative, and ergonomic designs that were based on Olli Borg’s physiology lecture of 1958.

The goal of these designs was to show the importance of ergonomics and human anatomy and realise maximal sitting comfort without compromising on the design.

The 418 has an exposed, painted fibreglass shell, with multi-foot pedestal. The technical design to fix and lock the reclining position meant this model was costly to engineer, and with the thick and removable upholstery the price point was focussed towards the very upper end of the market. The chair can also rotate on its six legged base. The padded cushions and reclining options provide a high level of comfort. The chair is marked underneath the seat; HAIMI Made in Finland designed by Yrjö Kukkapuro.

SOLD

Condition:

In good vintage condition. Wear consistent with age and use. Leather and shell have some marks and scratches.

Dimension:

29.93 in. W x 29.93 in. D x 31.5 in. H; seat height 14.18 in.

76 cm W x 76 cm D x 80 cm H; seat height 36 cm

About the designer:

Yrjö Kukkapuro (born 6 April 1933) is a Finnish interior architect and furniture designer. He is among the most internationally known and award-winning Finnish furniture designers and one of the key modernists in Finnish furniture design. Kukkapuro's design work is based on both aesthetic and functional innovation, user experience and ergonomics.

In his exceptionally long career of more than 60 years, Yrjö Kukkapuro has created state-of-the-art furniture of his time, which time has proven to be a modern classic. Objects designed by Kukkapuro are on display in a permanent exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Kukkapuro's career in design spans the years from the mid-50s to the present. These decades can accommodate collection families whose design language is always uniform and appropriate. There are plenty of collections from the Moderno family (1956) to 21st century picturesque CNC-machined art series. The office chair series Plaano, Fysio, Circus and Funktus are a long series of ergonomic products from the 80s and 90s, which can be found in bank halls, airports and auditoriums around the world. The plastic plastic chair era with its pop artistic colors lasted about 10 years, from the 60s to 1973. The oil crisis woke Kukkapuro into ecological thinking and began a 30-year period of form plywood.
The cornerstone of Kukkapuro's production is a structural structure inspired by architectural design, consisting of separate components. Serial component thinking has dominated his production from the Ateljee collection of the early 1960s to the present day. ~H.