It originally belonged to the same furniture family as the wooden Kongo chair. In the first sketches they were called Kongo tables, but in the final drawings the names were changed.
Finnish designer Ilmari Tapiovaara was one of the greatest interior architects and designers of his era. With the mind of an explorer and soul of a craftsman, Tapiovaara was always looking for ways to improve everyday objects. He embraced the principle of social equality and became a leading figure in the years after World War Two, when design was no longer seen as a luxury for the few.
A main characteristic of Tapiovaara's work was that he explored its possibilities through multiplicity - he created many versions of each of his designs and reissued them in different shapes.
Tapiovaara's most iconic work is his Domus Chair, a stackable plywood chair which he designed for Domus Academica, a new student housing facility in Helsinki.