Happy Chair

A couple years ago Kivi’s wife Kaisa said she dreamed of a big, happy armchair to read by the fire. The Happy Chair’s was designed in response to her dream. Its form engulfs its user in a warm embrace. It is designed to make people laugh and play. The large size and the dynamic form were conceived to spark the imagination and inspire creative misuse. In a baroque spirit the muscular form creates a sensation of upward movement, which defies gravity.

The Happy is a contemporary interpretation of the the classic wing-back chair - an easy chair with "wings", which were traditionally mounted to the back of the chair stretching down to the arm rest. The purpose of the "wings" was to enclose the head or torso areas of the body in order to provide comfortable protection from drafts, and to trap the heat from a fireplace in the area where the person would be sitting. Hence, in historic times these are often used near a fireplace. The wing-back chair were first introduced in England during the 1600s, and the basic design has remained unchanged since.

The Happy Chair and its big sister the Superhappy have found their way to several unique architectural environments in Finland and Sweden: The Fazer Visitor Centre, Aalto University headquarters Dipoli, the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences IVA, and the Ultima & Finnjävel restaurants.