Yrjö Wiherheimo graduated from Aalto University in Helsinki in 1967, after which he founded his design studio. Together with Simo Heikkilä, Wiherheimo was one of the late 60’s young and radical Finnish designers. The duo created a series of armchairs in a minimalistic design.
Wiherheimo was inspired by Gerrit Rietveld's use of thin wood boards as seat and back. Together with bent steel pipes, reminiscent of the Bauhaus school he created a simple and ascetic Finnish design style. In 1984, Wiherheimo designed the chair Pinna in 1987 and in 1994, Ilo. For the Swedish manufacturer Klaessons, Wiherheimo and Heikkilä created a.o. the collection Flok.
Since 1974 Wiherheimo is a professor in furniture design at Viah/Helsinki. From 1987 to 1989, he also held the same position at Statens Høyskole for Kunsthåndverk og design in Bergen. As an interior architect, Wiherheimo worked a.o. on the interior of the Concert and Congress Hall in Tammerfors.
