Tapio Wirkkala is widely regarded as one of Finland’s most influential designers. Wirkkala began his career as a sculptor in Helsinki, where he studied from 1933 to 1936. Even though WWII disrupted his early career as a sculptor and graphic designer, he won a glass competition run by the Iittala company in 1946. The same year he won a competition to design banknotes for the Bank of Finland.
He obtained particular notice at the IX Milan Triennale in 1951, where he won three Grand Prix, a feat he repeated at the X Triennale in 1954, where he won three Grand Prix once more, and the XII Triennale in 1960, where he received a Grand Prix and a Gold Medal. His reputation was cemented in Scandinavia, where he shared the first Lunning Prize for architecture with Hans Wagner in 1951.
He became well-known in the 1950s for his organic, fluid designs in glass and ceramics, which he first illustrated with his Kantarelli vase series in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1954, he moved to the United States, where he researched American mass manufacturing techniques at Raymond Loewy Associates in New York. His design work encompassed various disciplines, including lighting and cutlery. He worked for the German ceramics company Rosenthal from 1956 until his death and designed for the Venini glass company from the late 1950s onwards.
Selection of Works
Finnish Design Store
Sources
Woodham, J. M. (2006). A dictionary of modern design. Oxford University Press.
More on Tapio Wirkkala
Finnish Design – Design Shop
* This website may contain affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission when you click on links at no additional cost. As an Amazon and Sovrn affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
More Finnish Designers
-
Lotta Nieminen: A Blend of Illustration and Graphic Design
Lotta Nieminen, a Finnish designer based in New York City, is celebrated for her vibrant, unique graphic designs and illustrations. Raised in an artistic family and trained in Helsinki, she has made significant impacts in both print and children’s illustration, earning global acclaim and numerous awards. Read More →
-
Arabia’s Sunnuntai Vitro Plate: A Sunny Day on a Dish
The Sunnuntai Vitro plate, designed by Birger Kaipiainen in 1971 for Arabia, combines its vibrant, intricate design with practicality and durability, embodying Finnish craftsmanship and timeless elegance.Read More →
-
Riihimaki Glass – Finnish Glass Factory
Riihimäki Glass was a Finnish glass factory. The factory, established in 1810 for the production of domestic glassware, began production of window glass in 1919. It purchased various small factories, including the factory in which the Finnish Glass Museum is located today. After buying the Kaukalahti glassworks in 1927, Riihimaki became the largest glass factory…
-
Finlandia Hall designed by Alvar Aalto
The Finlandia Hall is a congress and event venue in the centre of Helsinki on the Töölönlahti Bay, owned by the City of Helsinki. In 1971, the building, designed by the architect Alvar Aalto, was completed. Aalto designs every detail of the building. Read More →
-
Gottlieb Eliel Saarinen: Shaping 20th Century Architecture
The post discusses the life and work of Finnish architect Gottlieb Eliel Saarinen, including his architectural accomplishments, influence on modernism in America, and his contributions to furniture and textile design. His emphasis on holistic and contextual design and his distinct aesthetic vision are notable.Read More →
-
Aimo Okkolin (1917 – 1982) Finnish Glass Designer
He made deeply cut crystal objects that were often coloured. He used a lot of nature subjects. The most famous is “Lumpeenkukka”. This glass object, designed by Okkolin in 1960, was Riihimäki Lasi’s best-selling single object. Okkolini’s glassware was presented to several foreign heads of state. He continued working for Riihimäki Glass until 1976 when…
-
Perttu Mentula (b.1936) Finnish architect & Interior Designers
Perttu Mentula (b.1936) was a Finnish architect and interior, exhibition, product, graphic, and furniture designer. Career Summary Between 1958-60, studiedRead More →
-
Ulla Procopé (1921 – 1968) Finnish Ceramicist
Ulla Procopé (1921 – 1968) was a Finnish designer and ceramicist. She studied at the Taideteollinen Korkeakoulu, Helsinki, to 1948.Read More →
-
Aune Siimes (1909 – 1964), Finnish ceramicist
Aune Siimes (1909 – 1964) was a Finnish ceramicist. She attended Taideteollinen Korkeakoulu in Helsinki from 1932 to 1933.Read More →
-
Bertel Gardberg (1916 – 2007) Finnish Jeweller and Metalworker
Bertel Gardberg was a Finnish jeweller and metal worker. Between 1938-1941 he studied at Taideteollin Korkeaukoulu, Helsinki. He began his working life in Copenhagen. Gardberg moved to Helsinki where he maintained a studio between 1949-1966. He was responsible for stainless steel and silver designs produced by the Georg Jensen Solvsmedie; Galeries Lafayette department store, Paris…
-
Tapio Wirkkala (1913 – 1985) Finland’s leading designer
Tapio Wirkkala is widely regarded as one of Finland’s most influential designers. Wirkkala began his career as a sculptor inRead More →
-
Finnish Design: A Concise History (hardcover)
Finnish Design has contributed significantly to the country’s economy and international identity. This beautifully conceived study examines the influence of Finnish modernism and its essential characteristics. The book extensively demonstrates how architecture works in the tension between art and business. Numerous photographs, posters, and illustrations depict every conceivable element of Finnish design’s rich diversity.Read More…
-
Arttu Brummer (1891 – 1951) Finnish designer
Arttu Brummer was a Finnish interior and glassware designer. Brummer set up his own interior design office in 1913. Read More →
-
Borje Rajalin (b.1933) Finnish Jewellery Designer
Borje Rajalin is a Finnish Jewellery Designer. Rajalin worked at Bertel Gardberg’s silversmith from 1952 – 1956. His design work included technical equipment, plastic fittings, cutlery, stainless steel table and cookware and with Anti Nurmesniemi in 1972 a train for the Helsinki Railway. They collaborated with station designers to make the metro stations modern and…
-
Marjatta Metsovaara (1927 – 2014) Finnish Textile Designer
Metsovaara’s style ranged from designs made up of organic forms in vibrant hues to muted neutral tones. She designed for 10 mills in Finland and abroad by 1967, and she made both printed and woven textiles. She ran her design studio and weaving mill in Urjala, Finland.Read More →
-
Marimekko Finnish textile Company
Marimekko, one of the most well-known Finnish textile companies, was founded by Armi and Viljö Ratia in Helsinki in 1951 as the trendy and innovative arm of their parent business, Printex, which they also formed two years earlier. At Printex, Armi Ratia created bold, experimental printed cotton textiles. Still, after this failed to catch the…
-
Armi Ratia (1912 – 1979) co-founder Marimekko
Ammi Maria Ratia (1912 – 1979) was the co-founder of Marimekko Oy (‘Mary’s frock’) Clothing was created to free women from 1950s’ tight, body-shaping dresses and move them into fresh, free-flowing dresses, skirts, trousers, and shirts.Read More →
-
Gunnel Gustafsson Nyman (1909 – 1948) Finnish glass and textile designer
Nyman worked for all the great Finnish glass manufacturers of the 20th century: Riihimaki from 1932—47, Nuutajarvi-Notsjo from 1946—48, and Karhula from 1935—37 (and at littala from 1946—47). She designed for both production and studio glass.Read More →
-
Antti Aarre Nurmesniemi – Finnish Interior & Industrial Designer
Between 1949-50, he was a furniture designer at the Stockmann design office, Helsinki; 1951—56, he was furniture and interior designer in the Viljo Revell architecture office, HelsinkiRead More →
-
The Friends of Finnish Handicraft – Folk and Textile Art
The Friends of Finnish Handicraft aims to document and promote typically Finnish textiles. The association was founded in 1879 by Fanny Churberg and inspired by the Swedish Friends of Handicraft association, founded five years earlier. The association has always worked closely with artists and architects and, from an early date, cooperated with, e.g. Jac Ahrenberg. The association collected and published…
You may also be interested in
Alvar Aalto Finnish Architect, town planner and designer of furniture – Encyclopedia of Design
Alvar Aalto which one of Finland’s leading architects whose genius ranged from large convention Halls to vases. Although the majority of his work was based in Finland, his architecture was known throughout the world.
Lunning Prize (1951-1972) – a showcase for Scandinavian Design – Encyclopedia of Design
Frederik Lunning, a Danish-born businessman and owner of the Georg Jensen Inc. store on Fifth Avenue in New York, created the Lunning Prize award in December 1951. This successful showcase for Danish porcelain and glass was developed in 1924, but supplies were cut off when World War II broke out.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.