Kaj Gabriel Franck (9 November 1911 – 26 September 1989) was one of the leading figures of

Finnish design Scandinavian design is a design movement characterized by simplicity, minimalism and functionality that emerged in the early 20th century, and subsequently flourished in the 1950s throughout the five Nordic countries: Danish design, Denmark, Finl ...

and an influential figure in

design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

and

applied arts The applied arts are all the arts that apply design and decoration to everyday and essentially practical objects in order to make them aesthetically pleasing."Applied art" in ''The Oxford Dictionary of Art''. Online edition. Oxford Univ ...

between 1940 and 1980. Franck was born in

Vyborg Vyborg (; , ; , ; , ) is a town and the administrative center of Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of Vyborg Bay, northwest of St. Petersburg, east of the Finnish capital H ...

Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed from 1809 to 1917 as an Autonomous region, autonomous state within the Russian Empire. Originating in the 16th century as a titular grand duchy held by the Monarc ...

to parents Kurt Franck and Genéviève "Vevi" Ahrenberg. He was a Swedish-speaking Finn, and he was of German descent through his father. Franck was artistic director of the

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

ceramics company (now part of Iittala Group) and artistic director and teacher at the College of Applied Arts – the predecessor of the

University of Art and Design Helsinki Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture; ; ), was formed of two separate schools: the faculty of architecture (previously part of the Helsinki University of Technology) and the University of Art and Design Helsinki (UIAH, known in ...

(now

Aalto University Aalto University (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Espoo, Finland. It was established in 2010 as a merger of three major Finnish universities: the Helsinki University of Technology, the Helsinki School of Economic ...

) – since 1945, but created designs for other companies as well. He received the 1957

Compasso d'Oro The Compasso d'Oro (; ) is an industrial design award originated in Italy in 1954. Initially sponsored by the La Rinascente, a Milanese department store, the award has been organised and managed by the Associazione per il Disegno Industriale (ADI ...

''Gran Premio Internazionale'' career prize, was awarded the Prince Eugen Medal in 1964. The Design Forum Finland awards the yearly Kaj Franck Design Prize to a designer or team of designers working in the spirit of the late Kaj Franck. Recipients of the prize include

Oiva Toikka Oiva Kalervo Toikka (29 May 1931 – 22 April 2019) was a Finnish glass designer, best known for his designs for Iittala. Biography Oiva Toikka was born in Viipurin maalaiskunta, the rural municipality surrounding then-Finnish Vyborg, now p ...

(1992),

Yrjö Kukkapuro Yrjö Kukkapuro Royal Designers for Industry, RDI (6 April 1933 – 8 February 2025) was a Finnish interior architect and furniture designer. Education and academic career Kukkapuro studied design at the Institute of Industrial Arts in Helsinki ...

(1995), Heikki Orvola (1998),

Eero Aarnio Eero Aarnio (born 21 July 1932) is a Finnish designer, noted for his innovative furniture designs in the 1960s, such as his plastic and fibreglass chairs. He was born in Helsinki. Aarnio studied architecture at the Institute of Industrial Art ...

(2008), Simo Heikkilä (2011) and

Harri Koskinen Harri Koskinen is a Finland, Finnish designer, born 1970 in Karstula, Finland. He has studied at the University of Art and Design Helsinki, Institute of Art and Design in Helsinki. Career Koskinen is probably best known for his Block Lamp, a ligh ...

(2014). The Mint of Finland released a collector coin with the theme “Kaj Franck and Industrial Art” in January 2011. The coin commemorates the one hundredth anniversary of his birth. Franck died in

Santorini Santorini (, ), officially Thira (, ) or Thera, is a Greek island in the southern Aegean Sea, about southeast from the mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago formed by the Santorini caldera. It is the southern ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

in 1989 and is buried in the

Hietaniemi Cemetery The Hietaniemi cemetery (, ) is located mainly in the Lapinlahti quarter and partly in the Etu-Töölö district of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. It is the location for Finnish state funeral services and is owned by the Evangelical Luthe ...

in Helsinki.

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External links

Glass items designed by Kaj Franck
{{DEFAULTSORT:Franck, Kaj 1911 births 1989 deaths Finnish designers Finnish interior designers Artists from Vyborg Recipients of the Prince Eugen Medal Burials at Hietaniemi Cemetery Finnish people of German descent Swedish-speaking Finns Academic staff of the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture Compasso d'Oro Award recipients

References

Further reading

External links