A wonderful bench from the “Pirkka” series, designed by Ilmari Tapiovaara and manufactured by Laukaan Puu around 1950. The narrow rectangular top / seat of the bench is made of dark stained pine wood and it has a black lacquered woorden base. This combination of warm and dark colours gives a luxurious style to the piece. The very straight top and rounded frame compliment each other nicely, making this beautiful piece fitting for many different interiors. It is a highly recognizable piece by one of the most iconic Finnish designers!
The piece remains in very good, vintage condition with minor wear consistent with age and use, preserving a beautiful patina.
Ilmari Tapiovaara (1914-1999) was a pioneer in the new design trade. He developed a unique aesthetic based on the remarkably international education he received from several of the masters of the mid-century style. While running his office in Helsinki, Tapiovaara went abroad to work for Alvar Aalto in Artek’s London office in 1935, for Le Corbusier in Paris in 1937 and for Mies van der Rohe in Chicago in 1953. He laid the foundations for the development of incipient industrial design through his objects and writings, thus bridging the radicalism of early European rationalism and the realism of post-war objective needs. Tapiovaara’s work contains crucial elements that arise out of a meticulous, laborious, precise investigation into the quest for perfection, the worship of beauty and the poetics of form.
