Birch Armchair by Eero Aarnio for Asko, Finland

Born in Helsinki in 1932, Finnish designer Eero Aarnio studied interior and industrial design at the School of Applied Arts in his hometown between 1954 and 1957. Soon after graduating, he began to work for Finnish designer Ilmari Tapiovaara (1914-1999), who at that time was designing for furniture manufacturing brand Asko. By 1962, Aarnio had launched his own studio in Helsinki and developed his own ongoing relationship with Asko. Around the same time, he began to experiment with plastics—the material for which he would become famous.

In 1963, Aarnio’s interest in the potential of fiberglass-reinforced plastics led to the creation of his iconic Ball Chair—also known as the Globe Chair—which he later exhibited at the 1966 Cologne Furniture Fair to great acclaim. Asko, recognizing the marketing value of the chair’s Pop aesthetic, invited Aarnio to develop more boundary-pushing designs in plastic. Aarnio didn’t disappoint, following up his first success with pieces like the Pastil Chair or Gyro Chair (1967), Bubble Chair (1968), and Tomato Chair (1971). In the process, Aarnio’s work would help to expand the international view of Scandinavian design beyond its roots in natural materials and minimalist forms. 

Through his long career, Aarnio remained committed to using innovative techniques in the creation of ergonomic and eye-catching designs. Additional works in his oeuvre include the Mushroom (1960), V.S.O.P. Cognac Lounge Chairs (1966), Kanttarelli Tables (1966), U-022 Stackable Chair (1972), Pony/Mustang Chair (1973), Copacabana Table (1991), Formula Chair (1998), and Parabel Dining Table (2002). 

Aarnio’s work has often been used in set designs for films, music videos, and fashion shoots. The Ball Chair, for instance, has been featured in The Prisoner (1967), Moon Zero Two (1969), Dazed and Confused (1993), Mars Attacks (1996), Austin Powers (1997), Men in Black (1997), and Zoolander (2001), among others. Aarnio has won several awards, like the Kaj Franck Design Prize in 2008, and his work can be found in museums around the world, including LACMA, SF MoMA, the Brooklyn Museum and MoMA in New York, the V&A in London, the Pompidou and Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, Die Neue Sammlung in Münich, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and the Design Museum Helsinki—which is hosting an Aarnio retrospective in 2016.

He is still practicing from his studio in Helskinki today.

* All images courtesy of Eero Aarnio Studio

Finnish design company Asko was founded in Lahti in 1918 by cabinetmaker Aukusti Avonius. Right away, the workshop’s operations apart from the competition, because its founder focused on serial production and retail distribution—rather than the one-off and custom work that dominated the carpentry trade at the time. Over the last 100 years, Asko has grown into one of the largest Finnish furniture and appliances brands, with great successes in exporting Finnish designs abroad. In the postwar years, Asko was responsible for producing some of the most iconic Finnish designs of the modernist era.

In the 1930s, Asko expanded their sales offices outside of Finland and gained popularity with international interior designers for minimalist, upholstered furniture. After World War II, however, Asko entered the canon of design history by bringing Olli Borg on as head designer and by collaborating with other major Finnish design talents. Ilmari Tapiovaara designed Asko’s Fanett Chair (1955), Crinolette Chair (1958), and Aslak Chair (1958). Tapio Wirkkala created Asko’s beautifully laminated coffee table—with his signature leaf motif—in 1958. Ilmari Lappalainen was responsible for the Pulkka Lounge (1963), and Stefan Lindfors developed the Draco Chair (1993). These and other Asko pieces have become iconic, collectible design objects.

Asko’s most famous collaboration was with Finnish designer Eero Aarnio, who pushed the boundaries of furniture design with his molded fiberglass (and later polypropylene) chairs, such as the Ball Chair (1963), V.S.O.P. Chair (1966), Pastil Pod Chair (1968), and Tomato Chair (1972).

Since the 1970s, Asko has merged with and been acquired by a number of companies and subdivisions. In the 21st century, the company no longer produces design classics, but it remains a thriving and popular brand, among the most recognized trademarks in Finland.