KIKI Upholstered leather bench

Kiki Bench.‎ Designed by Ilmari Tapiovaara.‎ 1, 2 & 3 seater available.‎ Frame: lacquered black steel.‎ Seat: PU foam and Dacron.‎ Upholstered with fabric and leather.‎ Ilmari Tapiovaara designed Kiki in 1960.‎ It was originally conceived as a chair whose stackability allowed it to be used to seat large groups, such as in auditoriums.‎ In the Kiki series Tapiovaara employed a more clean cut design idiom instead of the more organic style he had favoured previously.‎ Instead of wood, he chose oval steel tubing as the structural and unifying element of the whole kiki collection.‎

The Kiki collection employs oval steel tubing as framework in conjunction with surfaces that display distinctive planes and smooth-edged contours.‎ Kiki was designer Ilmari Tapiovaara’s first series to feature a consistent system of matching parts; the collection includes a stool, a bench, a small side table, a lounge chair, and a sofa.‎ The resulting look is iconic in its simplicity.‎ When presented at the Milan Triennale in 1960, the Kiki Chair took the gold medal.‎ Legend has it that a manufacturer approached Tapiovaara asking him to design a product that made use of his surplus of metal tubing.‎ True or not, with the Kiki collection, Tapiovaara announced a departure from his previous work.‎ Kiki is a mannequin, able to be dressed up in numerous ways, to travel effortlessly and assume different personalities.‎ Items from the Kiki family can be teamed in many configurations.‎ Their compact size means they fit naturally into smaller spaces.‎