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 Pirkko Stenros, you are one of the first
designers of modular storage furniture in the world. Why was it that you took an
interest in this specific subject as a young interior architect?
- It was the general shortage after the Second World War. When I took my
degree in 1951, Finland was burdened by war reparations which resulted in
rationing and scarcity still after the war. The reparations were completed in
1952, followed by a vigorous reconstruction. New housing was built, a lot of
two-room flats, but also one- and three-room flats. Masses of Finns moved from
the countryside into towns and into small flats. – The traditional pre-war
furniture were too large for these confined new homes. Everyone brought a lot of
utility goods with them. I solved the problem with drawer sets and cabinets.
This brought order to small flats, too. Since the cabinets occupied too much
floor space, I wanted to design them in a way that allowed stacking them on top
of another – from floor to ceiling if necessary. Stacking calls for equal
dimensions and a uniform dimensional plan – the Moduli range was born.
- When people move from a one-room flat to a larger one, they should be able
to dismantle the same units into elements and carry them along. The elements may
have a totally new use in the new home – this is why all the support units need
to be detachable: all bases, wheels and footings. If you purchase new and higher
supports, you will get various heights and new functions for units purchased
earlier.
- Moduli (depth 52 cm) has over the decades obtained multiple widths to
complement its basic width of 52 cm. Correspondingly, multiple heights have been
added, the basic height being 55 cm. Hanging clothes, for instance, got ample
space when cabinets were combined into units of two and three modules. A later
modification is the smaller-depth alternative for living-rooms, the Mup range,
depth 39 cm. Its details, material thicknesses and unit dimensions are equal to
those of the Moduli range, so that you can combine one to the other according to
need. – Kaksonen and Kolmonen have so far served as bedside tables in many
homes.
- You can now also select a drawer set of the height of one drawer – Ykkönen
– as your bedside table or the entertainment deck. If you dislike bases and
wheels, you can select Hopeajalka feet under your set of drawings, or you can
elevate the entire set with Tele-Jalka feet. Another change over the decades has
been the colouring, and repeatedly the return to the original birch and white in
order for our friends to be able to extend their cabinet sets.
How were the first Modulis received?
- They were very nearly knocked out. Shopkeepers found the first KolmosModuli
too modern, too anonymous – minimalism was not yet a trend in the 50's. – We had
already adopted minimalism. I am party in the architect's office my husband
Helmer Stenros founded in 1955, so I often assisted him in architectural
competitions and managed the plans for interiors of awarded designs. This
required an active interest in architecture worldwide and led to ever clearer
lines and sparser forms. – Nowadays minimalism is accepted in furniture, too,
and well over a million Modulis have been sold all over the world. Another
generation has found these "silent" domstic servants, which are not merely
lifeless objects, but a living system that changes along with your needs.
What is the secret of the long life cycle of the furniture you design?
- Multifunctionality. My goal has been to make each product so anonymous that
it will suit users of many ages and from many societies for many purposes. As a
designer who has experienced the war, I have embraced the idea of long-life
products and long recycling. I design a serial-product item for many years in
order for it to be versatile and an enduring delight to its user.
Pirkko Stenros, what do your family's long traditions in furniture production
mean to you?
- The origins of the family's furniture tradition were in my grandfather's
workshop in Sääksmäki, where he provided all five sons with an excellent
training as joiner. My father Martti Vaara (1895-1983) was the third son. He
first worked as instructor in woodwork like the other brothers did, until he
founded a factory by the name of Veljekset Vaara Oy in Lahti in 1925. Four
brothers were involved. The company was among the first ones in Finland to
manufacture domestic furniture in serial production. My father started to manage
the Muurame furniture factory in 1940, and his two younger brothers joined him
when they came home from the war. I valued my father's long experience in
production and marketing highly. A consequence of his experience was that my
models were exposed to a very strict scrutiny in the early 50's when I
approached his factory with my first drawings. I trusted that this experience
would also secure the production skill and functioning sales channels.
- My brother Raimo Vaara (1933-2001) continued and further developed the
serial production since 1964 in the new factory in Hollola. The passion and
curiosity toward furniture production that started in the early 2000th century,
has yielded interest and cultivated further as know-how. Today, it implies that
each and every present and future Muurame product contains the skill accumulated
over decades, tangibly experienced as matchless technical quality and functional
reliability.
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