Born in Viipuri in 1933, Yrjö Kukkapuro is one of the most internationally successful Finnish designers. He graduated as interior architect from the Institute of Industrial Arts in Helsinki in 1958 and founded his own design office, Studio Kukkapuro, in 1959. In addition to producing renowned and award-winning design work, Kukkapuro was a teacher, professor, and rector from the 1960s to the 1990s.

Kukkapuro's most famous model is the Karuselli Chair, named the most comfortable chair in the world by The New York Times in 1974. With work in the permanent collections of several museums – including the MoMA in New York, London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, and the National Museum of Art in Stockholm – Kukkapuro has exhibited his work in dozens of solo and group shows across the world.