The award-winning Domus Chair was designed in 1946 by Finnish designer and interior architect Ilmari Tapiovaara for the student housing complex Domus Academica in Helsinki. The original chair was made in wood – the only available material in post-war Finland – and intended for reading and general use. By combining solid wood and form-pressed plywood, Tapiovaara created a chair that conformed to the body in a new and highly comfortable way. The characteristic short armrests of the Domus Chair offer a surprising degree of support, while simultaneously allowing the chair to be pulled close to a table.

The lightweight, stackable, and multi-purpose Domus quickly gained success in Finland and abroad. Its international recognition eventually made Domus the first successful post-war design export from Finland. Sold in the UK under the name “Stax” and in the United States as the “Finnchair,” its popularity led to numerous awards, such as the American Good Design Award, which Tapiovaara received in Chicago in 1950, and the gold medal at the Milan Triennale in 1951.

“Wooden Conversations” is a special edition inspired by Domus Chairs from the Artek archive: two different wood species are combined to create a lively dialog between Finnish birch and North American elm wood. Elm wood, known for its exquisitely vivid grain pattern and colours, is used for seat and backrest and juxtaposed with the chair’s frame in calm, blond birch wood. And just as all Domus Chairs since 1946, this edition is produced in Finland by skilled craftspeople.

The Wooden Conversations Domus Chair is now available at selected retailers in Germany, the UK, Sweden, China, Taiwan as well as Artek Helsinki and Artek Tokyo.