Tapiovaara’s Domus Chair: The Stackable Seat That Conquered the World

Designed in 1946 for the Domus Academica student housing complex in Helsinki, Ilmari Tapiovaara’s Domus Chair became one of Finland’s most enduring furniture exports — and remains part of the Artek collection to this day.

Tapiovaara’s brief was precise: create a multipurpose chair suitable for studying and dining. His solution was a stackable chair with a three-dimensionally moulded plywood seat — a production method that introduced a new standard of comfort at an affordable price point.

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The short, characteristic armrests allow the chair to be pulled close to a table without obstruction, combining ergonomics with practical function.

The Domus Chair spread quickly from student housing to schools, cafeterias and private homes across Finland. It was then delivered from the factory in flat-pack form, requiring only a few screws for assembly — a radical approach for its time. International distribution followed: sold as “Stax” in the UK and as “Finnchair” in the US through Knoll, the chair earned recognition at New York’s MoMA and received the Good Design award in Chicago (1950) and the Gold Medal at the Milan Triennale (1951).

Ilmari Tapiovaara (1914–1999) studied furniture design at the Central School of Applied Arts in Helsinki before working as an assistant at Le Corbusier’s office in Paris. He later served as artistic director at Asko Oy. In 1958, he joined the United Nations as a design ambassador, spending two decades on development projects worldwide. The Domus Chair and other works by Tapiovaara have been part of the Artek collection since 2010.

Domus Chair clear oak leather upholstered 3 2383164 Domus Chair oak black leather upholstery WEB 1977827