The Ultima Thule series – glass that seems to flow
Ultima Thule is the name of the iconic Iittala series designed by Finnish graphic artist, architect and designer Tapio Wirkkala. In almost 40 years at Iittala, Wirkkala designed more than 400 objects. Among his most famous are the pieces in the Ultima Thule series, which originated in the 1960s from carved graphic shapes. Wirkkala was inspired by melting ice in Lapland, which is why the surface of the glassware recalls dripping water. Little of the original graphic shapes remains visible in the finished products, which reflect the countless hours it took to perfect the distinctive effect of Ultima Thule glasses using a special glassblowing technique. In 2015, to mark the 100th anniversary of Tapio Wirkkala's birth, Iittala relaunched the Ultima Thule series.
The name Ultima Thule refers both to the ancient island of Thule, a place described as the end of the world, and to the geographical Ultima Thule – the northernmost point of land on Earth, around 700 km from the North Pole.
