Finn Tech

How Paavo Tynell's elegant 1940s pendant lit the way for Scandinavian design overseas

- HANNAH MARTIN

Paavo Tynell is often called "the man who illuminated Finland." And while that may sound like an exaggeration, take a stroll through Helsinki and you'll see the designer's distinctive fixtures all around town-chandeliers in the Central Railway Station; sconces, table lamps, and more in the Original Sokos Hotel Vaakuna. But it was only when Tynell came to New York City, in 1948, that he and his lights began to plot world domination.