Sunday, 27 April 2008 | Levent OZLER
40 Years of Wirkkala's Ultima Thule
The birth of the Ultima Thule range of glassware in 1968, designed by Tapio Wirkkala, tells us a lot about his approach to design. The form he created for Ultima Thule is based on what is known as the ice glass technique, which Wirkkala was involved with in developing at the Iittala Glassworks. The rough surface structure characteristic of this technique was achieved by blowing into the mould. Always the innovator and always keen to roll his sleeves up, Wirkkala did this part of the job himself at first.
Wirkkala worked as a designer at the Iittala Glassworks from 1946 to 1965, when he moved over to his own design company. He designed a multitude of art pieces for Iittala over the years, many of which received awards at the Milan Triennial in the 1950s. The first of his mass production designs was the Tapio range, which was launched in 1954 and is still a popular feature of the Iittala range to this day.
Commissioned by Finnair
As a designer, Wirkkala often worked on commissioned projects, and Ultima Thule was the result of a commission from Finnair for its new route between Helsinki and New York, opened in 1969. Wirkkala also designed plastic tableware and cutlery for the same route. The plastic products were produced by Fiskars, the Iittala Group's parent company today.
Ultima Thule has become one of Iittala's most popular glassware ranges ever, and highlight Wirkkala's view that a simple end-product often calls for the most work. For someone holding an Ultima Thule piece in their hands, the image likely to come to mind is of a block of ice that has melted, as if by nature, into a glass. In reality, the rough exterior characteristic of these glasses was the result of years of development work:
"For years now, I have been pursing the ideas expressed in these glasses. Earlier, I tried breaking up the surface by cutting, but only now do I think I'm on the right track when I get the desired result in the glass-blowing stage."
Nature was an important source of inspiration for Wirkkala, and he felt most relaxed and free of the pressures of his work as an international designer in Lapland. During the time he spent there, he was always whittling away at a piece of wood, sketching, or doing something else with his hands. The latter were very much an extension of his mind.
"Making things with my hands means a lot to me. I could even say that when I sculpt or mould nature's materials it has an almost therapeutic effect. They inspire me and lead me to new experiments. They transport me into another world. A world in which, if eyesight fails, my fingertips see the movement and the continuous emergence of geometrical forms."
|
