Finding Ola Kettunen

I found my first Ulla stool in the late 1990s at a local thrift store in Finland but at the time I didn't know that it had that name. The stool was marked O. Kettunen and as the internet was less of a thing back then, and no books made a mention of the designer, there wasn't really any way of finding our more information about it.

Over the years I found more of them, some of them even vintage copies, but there was little information to be had. I found the original brochure for the stool but there was merely information about the chair range in it, nothing about the designer. I was intrigued by the fact that Kettunen seemingly only made this one design and then vanished. Inspired I started an article on designers who only made one design during their career.

Close to 30 years would go by until I discovered the full name of its creator and got in touch with Ola’s son Ari in California. It wasn't until I read a magazine article by Anna-Kaisa Huusko about Ola Kettunen that things started falling into place. Kettunen had had a successful career in Canada and the US after leaving Finland and passed away in 2015. I wish I had found out earlier and been able to visit meet him.

In 2022 I got to know the owners of Backmanform Ltd, a legendary company in Finland, renowned for its woodwork from the 1950s onwards. Together with them we started planning a re-edition of the Ulla stool, using recycled and recyclable material for all parts in the design.

I and Backman Ltd are proud to present the 2024 edition of the Ulla stool - an iconic design, reimagined for today and upcycled for tomorrow.