Kaj Franck

Kaj Franck
Born9 November 1911
Vyborg
Died26 September 1989 (aged 77)
Santorini
Resting placeHietaniemi cemetery
OccupationDesigner
Awards
[edit on Wikidata]

Kaj Gabriel Franck (9 November 1911 – 26 September 1989) was one of the leading figures of Finnish design and an influential figure in design and applied arts between 1940 and 1980.

Franck was born in Vyborg, Grand Duchy of Finland to parents Kurt Franck and Genéviève "Vevi" Ahrenberg.[1] He was a Swedish-speaking Finn, and he was of German descent through his father.[2]

Franck was artistic director of the Arabia 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 (now Aalto University) – since 1945,[3] but created designs for other companies as well.[4] He received the 1957 Compasso d'Oro Gran Premio Internazionale career prize, was awarded the Prince Eugen Medal in 1964.[5]

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 (1992), Yrjö Kukkapuro (1995), Heikki Orvola (1998), Eero Aarnio (2008), Simo Heikkilä (2011) and Harri Koskinen (2014).[6]

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.[7]

Franck died in Santorini, Greece in 1989 and is buried in the Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki.[8]

  1. ^ "KAJ FRANCK". Design Museum. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  2. ^ Kalha, Harri. "Kaj Franck". Biografiasampo (in Finnish). Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  3. ^ Franck, Kaj (1911–1989). Kansallisbiografia. (In Finnish.)
  4. ^ Kaj Franck Bio.
  5. ^ "Compasso d'oro alla carriera (1957)". ADI Design Museum (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-07-28.
  6. ^ Kaj Franck Design Prize. Design Forum Finland.
  7. ^ "Mint of Finland". Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2014-11-17.
  8. ^ "Hietaniemen hautausmaa – merkittäviä vainajia" (PDF). Helsingin seurakuntayhtymä. Retrieved 2016-08-26.