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Miniatures Karuselli

Yrjö Kukkapuro, 1964/65

The idea of creating a glassfibre chair based on humanbody's shape was planned already in late 1950s. Glassfibre, the new material, was just invented and came to Finland in late 50s but was very expensive to use. Kukkapuro realized the first model in 1958–1959 and in early 1960s when glassfibre became cheaper Kukkapuro continued the development of Karuselli which finally was produced by the Finnish furniture company Haimi Oy in 1964.

The chair was designed to provide a relaxing sitting position as possible. The basic shape has been obtained through the use of flexible steel mesh and conforms with the human anatomy. The swiveling seat which was of fibreglass reinforced polyester was connected to the base by an intermediate steel spring and rubber dampers. The seat shell and base were coated with semigloss plastic paint in the colours white and black. For upholstery only leather was used.

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Miniatures Collection

For over two decades, the Vitra Design Museum has been making miniature replicas of milestones in furniture design from its collection. The Miniatures Collection encapsulates the entire history of industrial furniture design – moving from Historicism and Art Nouveau to the Bauhaus and New Objectivity, from Radical Design and Postmodernism all the way up to the present day. Exactly one sixth the size of the historical originals, the chairs are all true to scale and precisely recreate the smallest details of construction, material and colour. The high standard of authenticity even extends to the natural grain of the wood, the reproduction of screws and the elaborate handicraft techniques involved. This has made the miniatures into popular collector's items as well as ideal illustrative material for universities, design schools and architects.