Born in Helsinki in 1932, designer Eero Aarnio graduated from the Institute of Industrial Arts in 1957. Professor and interior architect Aarnio has had an exceptionally long career and is one of Finland’s internationally most significant designers.
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Aarnio gained worldwide renown for the Ball Chair, which was first presented in 1966. The optimistic perspectives of the period and new industrial raw materials made it possible to expand the whole idea of furniture.
Aarnio’s significance as a designer is crystallized in the liberation of form. He is homo ludens, playing man, testing how form can be stretched within the properties of the material and through the designer’s boundless imagination.
This exhibition explores the extent and depth of Aarnio’s work, revealing new aspects of a classic designer known to most. It has five themes: Artefacts, Mind, Time, Process and Manufacturing. They offer a closer look at the main works of Aarnio’s career and a glimpse into the lesser known sides of the design process. The material on show has been gathered from the designer’s work table in his studio and the production lines of factories.
The exhibition also marks the launch of a new type of mobile exhibition architecture, playful and experimental in the spirit of Eero Aarnio.
Photo texts
1. Ball chair, 1963 (1966), photo: Rauno Träskelin
2. Puppy, 2005, photo: Magis
3. Double Bubble table lamp, 2001, photo: Eero Aarnio archive