Paavo Tynell Archives
Paavo Tynell (1890–1973) was the leading Finnish lighting designer of the 20th century. Trained as a metalsmith, he co-founded the Helsinki workshop Taito Oy in 1918 and served as its principal designer and managing director until 1953, when the lighting production moved to Idman. Working in brass, perforated metal and opal glass, Tynell created chandeliers, pendants, wall lights and floor lamps of remarkable lightness, from the celebrated "Snowflake" chandelier to made-to-measure fittings for public buildings.
His lights were designed for real spaces: the Finnish Parliament House, the Lasipalatsi in Helsinki, hotels, restaurants, churches and schools across Finland, and in the 1950s interiors in the United States, where his work was widely sold. He worked alongside architects such as Alvar Aalto and Erik Bryggman.
This archive brings together period photographs of those interiors, from his early modernist commissions of the 1930s to his mature work of the 1960s, so you can see Tynell's lighting as it was meant to be seen, in place. Each image is credited to the museum or archive it comes from.
Restaurant lighted by Paavo Tynell
Mikkelin cathedrale before its renovation in 1932. Lighting by Paavo Tynell.
Schrafft's restaurant interior 1951, New York.
Paavo Tynell for the MKT seminar building “Northern Lights Street 9”, manufactured by Taito 1950-1953.
Lohja congregation hall, Paavo Tynell lighting
Imatra Statshotell
Lohja congregation hall, Paavo Tynell lighting
Scandinavian interior, Tynell lighting
Greta skogster-lehtinen apartment
Aulanko interior Hotel, Paavo Tynell lighting.
Hotelli Pohjanhovi, 1936–1937. Lighting by Paavo Tynell.
1950's finnish interior
Alvar Aalto University, Helsinki.
Alvar Aalto University
Alvar Aalto University
Aalto University
Restaurant at Hotel Maakunta, Lounais-Suomen Maalaistentalo, Turku in 1949. Interiors by Carin and Erik Bryggman, lighting by Paavo Tynell
Restaurang Pieksänhovi, Pieksämäki
A Paavo Tynell floor lamp