Yrjo Kukkapuro
Yrjo KUKKAPURO was born in Finland in 1933. He can be considered as one of the most important Finnish international designers.
Missing the examination for Graphics design which, he dreamed of, he ended up in interior design.
After studies in Finland at Imatra Art School, and professional studies at the Helsinki Institute of Crafts and Design, he created his own freelance agency, Studio Kukkapuro. For many years he collaborated with the Avarte design studio in Helsinki.
Soon after finishing his studies, Mr Kukkapuro gained international attention with his Moderno Seating collection at the end of the 50’s. Since then much of his furniture and lamp design works have attracted international fame and recognition. Many of his works are now permanent collections of museums like the MoMA of New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum of London or the Vitra Design museum Weil am Rhein.
Mr Kukkapuro is also an academic, teaching and lecturing for many years in his home country, Scandinavia, England, Scotland, Japan and China. In China, he is also an honorary professor of the Forest University of Nanjing and Wuxi Light Industry University.
Kukkapuro studied under Ilmari Tapiovaara and Olli Borg who taught him the practical meaning of functionalism, and young Kukkapuro greatly respected their wisdom and philosophy. Later in his teaching. He continued and expressed his functional thinking. His language of form is based on a simple, clear and often imposing functionality which takes into account materials and their natural formal aspects. The outcomes of the design work are perfectly wholes because functionality in all its manifestations is at their core. This is appropriate for Kukkapuro who wishes to avoid excessive personification and who does not want to present hyperbolic views about design.
From a design and creativity point of view, Professor Kukkapuro has been the Avarte's principal designer from the very beginning. His designs reflect an awareness of space and its function; be it the space of classical or modern buildings. Furniture has been designed by making it complement the architecture of the building, by making it assimilate with the space without dominating it. Avarte and Kukkapuro often work in close co-operation with architects.
Even though many products have originally been designed, tested and manufactured for a certain environment, many of them have proven appropriate for other corresponding projects. This may result from the universality of the products and the fact that they seldom point to any specific style or era. Some products have also been manufactured in different versions suitable for many public facilities. For Kukkapuro: ‘Furniture design is a humane line of business. Furniture is physically very close to people using it. A Designer has something of a physiologist when creating furniture.’
One of his last ventures was to design bamboo furniture in China with Professor Fang Hai. More than 10 years ago Professor Fang was looking for teachers able to give lectures in China. Kukkapuro was the only one to give a positive answer. Whilst doing this, Kukkapuro came into contact with modern Chinese manufacturing techniques and, conversely, the handicraft tradition and period furniture. From these exchanges, the East West collection was born. Using the traditional material of bamboo.