Summer preparations

We are not at all "plastic" people. Instead of plastic, we usually prefer natural materials such as wood, leather and metal as building blocks of our home. However, now when the summer is here we really wish to spice up the atrium terrace, one way or another.

So far, we have made a decision regarding the terrace floor material (more about it later), but right now we would like to introduce one of the key elements of our beloved terrace, the Bubble chair by Finnish designer Eero Aarnio for Adelta (1968). Some of you might remember it from Final frontier, when we had it stored away during the winter. Now, in the heat of the summer (+30C) it is definitely a perfect time to bring the Bubble out to the sun light.

Eero Aarnio is not only one of the most well known Finnish designers, but definitely an international design star of the pop culture era as well. He is known for numerous products made of plastic, including e.g. the Ball and Bubble chairs. Where the Ball chair has a composite structure (fiberglass & resin) the Bubble is made of acrylic. The material is first heated and subsequently blown into a shape around a steel ring. Ours is vintage (naturally), but as the chair is still in production, a new one can be purchased online through Eero's official web shop.

Bubble dog

Just like so many other pieces in our collection, our Bubble was found from an auction house. As it is an old piece, the years were visible on its surface. When it arrived, the surface was full of light scratches and to an untrained eye the situation might have seemed hopeless. Indeed, plastic can be problematic especially when used in lights where the light source (e.g. incandescent bulb) heats up the plastic and over the years makes it fragile. This is actually the reason why there are not so many vintage plastic lights in our home. For our delight, the situation with the Bubble is different. The acrylic is rather thick and fortunately the scratches are only very light.

The trouble

To bring the plastic surface back to its shine, Pekka chose to use Farecla paste compound.

The solution

The drill used in here is not actually able to provide sufficiently high rpm's, so in truth the work was mostly completed by hand rather than with the aid of a power tool. What one really needs is a tool much more powerful in terms of rpm's than a regular hand drill. Whichever way you are approaching the challenge, it is important to start slowly by adding paste and water simultaneously as you work through the scratchy surface.

Power(less) tool

Again, we are very happy with Pekka's persistence and the achieved outcome. And so is Urho. Well, it has to be admitted some of Urho's poses do require some preparative work and command words, but in the end he actually does not mind at all. He stays put more or less relaxed as long as it takes to get the shot done, because he knows that afterwards he always receives his favourite treat. It is all about incentives, right?

They made me stay here

As a final picture to conclude this posting, we need to throw in another one of Urho. In his last few appearances, Urho's view of the world has been somewhat inverted, so it is only appropriate to complete the trilogy!

Let me just...