Timo Sarpaneva's collection.

How is it possible that someone can work with so many different materials so successfully? Timo Sarpaneva graduated as a graphic designer from the School of Art and Design in Helsinki in 1949. He had no experience of glass or metal. He learned the technical product knowledge from his colleagues at the factory. Most of the work was done on the production line, not on the drawing table. Timo was not only artistically gifted but also socially talented. He was a natural part of each workgroup, encouraging and inspiring, and he showed appreciation and respect to his colleagues. Detailed sketches for the stainless steel dishes were drawn, but the final work was carried out during production at the OPA factory. Sarpaneva's characteristic 'round square', as he called the shape, appears in many of the objects he designed. This shape, which today's young designers call 'superellipse', was already present in the glass plates Timo designed in the 1950s. Every detail, hinge, joint, and finish in OPA's stainless steel range was carefully designed. "Even a hinge can be finely crafted, like a piece of jewellery," Timo said.

Marjatta Sarpaneva

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