Paavo Tynell

Paavo Tynell (1890-1973) was one of the great pioneers of Finnish design, remembered above all for his work in the field of lighting. A great expert in metalworking, a subject he first studied and taught at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki from 1917 to 1923, from the beginning of his career Tynell was the protagonist of important orders such as that for the creation of the precious bronze portals of the Helsinki parliament, for which he then also took care of the lighting. In 1918 he was among the founders of one of the first Finnish lamp companies, Taito Oy, for which he personally designed various models. His lamps were works of high craftsmanship, often based on extravagant combinations of glass and brass and produced in limited numbers. In the first years of the company's activity he had the opportunity to collaborate with some emerging stars of the nascent Finnish design such as Alvar Aalto and Kaj Frank. At the end of the 1940s, Tynell's creations began to be exported with great success to the USA, a country where he had the opportunity to sign one of his most prestigious projects: Tynell designed the lighting for the office of the Secretary General of the Nations United at the UN headquarters in New York. In the last years of his career, following the merger between Taito and Idman Osakeyhtiö, his style evolved, trying to make it more suitable for industrial production in large numbers. Starting from 2018, many of his most famous creations have been reissued by the Danish brand Gubi.