Fredrik Paulsen Brings Skateboarding culture into Chair Design
Swedish designer Fredrik Paulsen creates the limited-edition Vauhtikisat Chair One in collaboration with Finnish Design Shop to mark Helsinki’s annual Vauhtikisat skateboarding festival. The chair features the event’s illustration and was skated and gifted during the July 2026 edition of the event. Vauhtikisat is an annual skateboarding event held in Helsinki, Finland, each July. What began as a DIY gathering in 2014 has grown into a major skateboarding event in Europe, bringing more than 4,000 skateboarders to the city’s highest hill park.
Paulsen grew up within the Swedish skate scene, an environment that influenced his approach to design and shaped his understanding of the relationship between objects, creativity, and everyday life. The Vauhtikisat Chair One extends this connection through a limited-edition furniture piece developed for the event, with its graphic identity directly incorporating the festival’s illustration.
all images courtesy of Fredrik Paulsen
Vauhtikisat Chair One Extends Paulsen’s Design into Skate Culture
The collaboration between designer Fredrik Paulsen and Finnish Design Shop also marks the arrival of Paulsen’s JOY OBJECTS collection at Finnish Design Shop, where a wider selection of his work will be available alongside the limited-edition chair. Five Vauhtikisat Chair One pieces are available through Finnish Design Shop from July, while one additional chair is awarded to the winner of the Vauhtikisat competition.
The collaboration positions the chair within the context of skateboarding culture, connecting limited-edition furniture with an event defined by participation, community, and DIY production. For Paulsen, the project reflects the role that skateboarding has played throughout his creative practice, while for Finnish Design Shop, the collaboration extends its focus toward design objects situated within active cultural and social contexts.
Fredrik Paulsen creates the limited-edition Vauhtikisat Chair One for Helsinki’s skateboarding festival
the chair was developed in collaboration with Finnish Design Shop
Paulsen’s Swedish skateboarding background informs the design’s cultural context