With stark, vertical lines, The Empire Chair echoes the iconic silhouette of a Manhattan skyscraper.

"Tasked with outfitting a slice of Italy in the heart of New York, Swedish-Finnish designer Sami Kallio didn’t just look at sketches; he looked at history. To bridge the gap between Nordic minimalism and the bustling energy of Italian immigrant culture, he designed a piece that felt less like furniture and more like heritage.

Photo Espen Grønli og NO GA

- I started looking at American architecture and Italian culture and found out that Italian immigrants helped build the Empire State Building,” says Sami Kallio when we meet him at the Nordiska Galleriet store in Stockholm.

The armrests rise like the Art Deco spire of the world-famous Manhattan skyscraper, with a slender arched back. Sami is known for working out his ideas in physical prototypes, and the idea was materialized in the wood workshop in Gothenburg.

- I wanted a slim back and had to work a lot with the angles of the backrest to create the right seating comfort. By going for a single backrest, I also reduced the amount of material.

Sami is keen to continue and emphasize craft traditions in his products and deliberately opted for a seat in textiles woven by weavers in Småland.

- I wanted to create a chair that can be renovated. Over time, the textiles can be replaced, the frame is almost perpetual.

For Sami, it's important to make furniture that is durable at a price that makes it accessible to many.

- Axel Söderberg and Hanna Nova Beatrice from Nordiska galleriet came by the studio and told me that they were going to start producing furniture. They asked me if I had any design ideas in stock and were blown away when they saw The Empire Chair,” smiles Sami.

The Empire Chair is one of the first design products in Nordiska Galleriet's new furniture collection.