Eero Hyrkäs, a Finland-based designer, creates high-end stainless steel items for the home, produced by hand at Arctichrome Production of Tornio, Finland. Mr Hyrkäs’s inspiration comes equally from unspoiled arctic nature as well as from stainless steel. Arctichrome’s primary material is austenitic stainless steel from the neighboring Tornio Works of Outokumpu. True to this tradition of using nature as an inspiration, Eero Hyrkäs goes to his native arctic Finland for stimulation and ideas. His new collection is named JAUR, after the word meaning “deep water” in the Sami language of Lapland. The collection is distinguished by both untamed beauty and uncompromised directness, which are also characteristic of the northern frontiers of Finland. Mr Hyrkäs’s raw material is primarily stainless steel sheet from Outokumpu’s Tornio Works. Speaking about stainless steel as a design material, Mr Hyrkäs describes it as unyielding as arctic nature, yet just as sensitive: “Stainless is hard, but it must be handled with extreme care so the final product shows no surface defects. Stainless is also a modern material, so it lends itself to no decorative forms but to simplistic purity. It dictates the terms of design.” All JAUR items are handmade at Arctichrome Production, a design shop started by Mr Hyrkäs in 1994. The manufacturing methods are traditional, and all workers are top metal smiths. The shop uses 0.5-1.5mm thick sheet material of the austenitic grade 1.4301 (304), supplied in the brushed, polished or bright-annealed surface condition. The JAUR Collection was produced in cooperation with Design House Idoli of Ivalo, Finland, and released in its entirety in 2007. It consists of 15 products including water pitchers, a coffee pot, salad servers, a champagne cooler, and trays.
