Scandinavian Fiberglass Sofa from Eero Aarnio for Asko, 1970s
View Similar Items
Scandinavian Fiberglass Sofa from Eero Aarnio for Asko, 1970s
About the Item
- Creator:Asko (Manufacturer),Eero Aarnio (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 26.38 in (67 cm)Width: 82.68 in (210 cm)Depth: 32.29 in (82 cm)Seat Height: 14.57 in (37 cm)
- Style:Scandinavian Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:Finland
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1970s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Belgium, BE
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU2359313924202
Eero Aarnio
“I always look ahead, never back,” Finnish design legend Eero Aarnio has been quoted as saying. A leading innovator of modern furniture design, Aarnio has long embraced a bold, playful, confident and colorful style several steps ahead of his time.
For his 1954 entrance test for the Institute of Industrial Arts in Helsinki, Aarnio created a whimsical painting of a man reading a newspaper in a red, curved chair whose silhouette foreshadowed Aarnio’s Ball chair of 1963. That spherical seat skyrocketed him to design fame, and decades later, it is still recognized as one of the world’s most futuristic designs.
Born in 1932 to a house painter and a seamstress, Aarnio has always had a cheerful disposition and an independent spirit. He went his own way early on: After just two years at Asko, the big Scandinavian furniture company that originally produced his Ball chair, Aarnio established his own studio in 1962.
Over the next decade, the young visionary made an indelible mark on the world. Open-minded and entrepreneurial, Aarnio embraced the aesthetics, materials and technologies of the Swinging Sixties, working with a new generation of plastics and molding them into fluid, organically shaped, brightly hued forms.
Introduced at the 1966 Cologne Furniture Fair, the pod-like fiberglass Ball chair soon adorned the homes of movie stars and royalty, graced magazine covers around the world and was featured in films and ads. The groundbreaking seat originally came in orange, white, black, yellow and red and could be ordered with a telephone installed in it. Yet this designer of the future, as he was known in the 1960s, has always insisted that he didn’t deliberately seek to be associated with the decade’s sci-fi aesthetic.
“I had no intention to create either pop or Space Age design — as many people label my work,” Aarnio declares in one of the essays included in Eero Aarnio — Designer of Colour and Joy, a book jointly created by the Design Museum and publisher WSOY to accompany 2016’s “Eero Aarnio” exhibition.
The show featured a number of Aarnio’s objects, including his iconic Ball, Pastil (1967), Bubble (1968), Tomato (1971) and Pony (1973) chairs. These were joined by lesser-known seating and other objects like the rattan Juttujakkara, or mushroom, stool (1960); the sculptural Double Bubble lamp (2000), with which Aarnio first explored the possibilities of rotation-cast plastic; and the three-legged Rocket (1995) and Baby Rocket (2006) stools, both parts of a collection produced by Artek after Tom Dixon, the company’s creative director from 2004 to 2009, discovered the original piece in Aarnio’s kitchen.
“Aarnio expanded the whole idea of what constitutes furniture,” explained Suvi Saloniemi, the Design Museum’s chief curator. “His significance as a designer is crystallized in the liberation of form that he has introduced by discovering the properties of plastic as the material of a designer. His furniture is sculpture-like and eye-catching, but the pieces are always utilitarian at the same time.”
Find an extraordinary range of vintage Eero Aarnio chairs, tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- Eero Aarnio for Asko Arm Chair Red Fiberglass Pastil "Pastille", Finland, 1960sBy Eero Aarnio, AskoLocated in Telgte, DEEero Aarnio for Asko chair red fiberglass Pastil "Pastille", Finland, 1960s A red high gloss fiberglass 'Pastille' ('pastil' or 'Gyro') chair designed by Finish designer Eero Aarnio...Category
Vintage 1960s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsFiberglass
- Eero Aarnio for Asko Chair Orange Fiberglass Pastil or 'Pastille', Finland, 1968By Asko, Eero AarnioLocated in Hausmannstätten, ATAn orange high gloss fiberglass 'Pastille' ('pastil' or 'Gyro') chair designed by Finish designer Eero Aarnio in 1968 for modern furniture maker Asko Oy in Helsinki, Finland. This vi...Category
Vintage 1960s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsFiberglass
- Vintage Scandinavian Mid-Century Modern Natural Leather and Oak Wood Sofa, 1970sLocated in Warszawa, MazowieckieThis two-seater sofa was produced in Scandinavia during the 1970s. The frame is made of solid oak wood with a natural color. The cushions are upholstered with natural leather in a shade of coffee brown. The sofa is equipped with side cushions. The frame with a basket structure, together with a comfortable seat and backrest, ensure high comfort during use. The sofa has a geometric and closed form that perfect match into the minimalist vintage trend...Category
Vintage 1970s Scandinavian Scandinavian Modern Sofas
MaterialsLeather, Wood, Oak
$2,653 Sale Price20% Off - Rare Eero Aarnio Birch Armchair for Asko, FinlandBy Eero Aarnio, AskoLocated in Echt, NLBeautiful Birch Armchair in very good condition. Designed by Eero Aarnio and produced by Asko, Finland. The chair is made of bent plywood which is lamin...Category
20th Century Finnish Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsBirch, Fabric, Bouclé, Bentwood
- Vintage Scandinavian Mid-Century Modern Sofa from Bröderna Andersson, 1950sBy Bröderna Anderssons 1Located in Warszawa, MazowieckieThis three-seater sofa was made by the Swedish manufacturer Bröderna Anderssons during the 1950s. The sofa is upholstered with a high-quality material in a noble red color. It is an ...Category
Vintage 1950s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Sofas
MaterialsFabric, Beech
$3,007 Sale Price20% Off - Confidential Sofa Set by Alberto Rosselli for Saporiti, 1970sBy Saporiti, Alberto Rosselli SaporitiLocated in Lasne, BESet of velvet sofas comprising two two-seater sofas and two single armchairs. Stamped SAPORITI. Seat height: 38 cm. Width of the single-seater armchairs: 90 cm. Length of the 2-seate...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Canapes
MaterialsPlastic, Velvet
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
The 21 Most Popular Mid-Century Modern Chairs
You know the designs, now get the stories about how they came to be.
The Ball Chair, Eero Aarnio’s Space Age Masterpiece, Was Almost Never Made
Now considered emblematic of 1960s mod aesthetics, the Finnish designer's famous creation was far from an overnight success.