The Ball Chair was designed in 1963, and debuted at the Cologne Furniture Fair in 1966. It is one of the most famous classics of Finnish design and was the international breakthrough of Aarnio.
Looking at the original sketch of the Ball Chair, it was created on the 11th of January in 1963. Eero immediately knew that it would have to be prototyped first. Pirkko’s father was a school teacher in Salo, where Eero spent evenings and weekends with Pirkko’s brother in the crafts class room developing the first ever shell to the Ball Chair. Taking of the molds for the first time, the outer surface turned out beautifully, but the inside was uneven and rugged. It needed to be reinforced. First, they thought of adding more fiberglass layers. The shell did in fact get stronger, but Eero realized that the weight and costs would also rise accordingly. Facing the problem, a lightbulb came on over his head. Right behind the opening of the shell, he could install a round pipe ring, and laminate it with fiberglass. The shell became as hard as stone, and it was ready to be upholstered by a talented upholsterer Kataja in Haaga. Completed in their home stood the first prototype of the Ball Chair, the very same one still present in the Aarnio family’s current home in Veikkola. Source
Design is fine. History is mine. 