Finnish Lines

Resurfaced by Hem, a postmodern Nordic icon is back on the shelves

- HANNAH MARTIN

A well-rested brain is a creative brain.

Just ask Finnish designer and interior architect Yrjö Kukkapuro. In 1981, after a taxing stint at the helm of the University of Art and Design Helsinki, he retreated to his country house with a pile of sketchbooks and colored pens. That summer, unbridled doodling gave way to one of the most radical Scandinavian designs of recent history: the Experiment chair, whose sober, tubular frame and upholstered seat are jazzed up by squiggly plywood armrests. This month, the eye-popping series returns to the market thanks to the Swedish furniture brand Hem, a current torchbearer of Nordic innovation.