FINNISH ARCHITECT AND DESIGNER · 1898–1976
Alvar Aalto
Alvar Aalto is Finland’s answer to Arne Jacobsen: an architect who designed everything, and whose furniture in bent birch became classics. We do not sell Aalto furniture as standard, but we reupholster his upholstered chairs and the seat of the Paimio Chair by arrangement.
The architect who put people first
Aalto was born in 1898 and from the 1920s designed buildings that put their users first: Paimio Sanatorium from 1933 with patient rooms designed for people lying down, the library in Viipuri from 1935 and Finlandia Hall in Helsinki from 1971.
For Paimio he designed furniture in bent, laminated birch, a technique he developed together with the joiner Otto Korhonen. In 1935 he and Aino Aalto founded the company Artek, which still produces the furniture.
The stool everyone knows
Stool 60 from 1933 with its three L-shaped legs has sold in the millions and stands in schools, museums and homes all over the world. Chair 69 and the Paimio Chair 41 are based on the same bent birch. The Savoy vase from 1936 in wavy glass is still produced by Iittala.
Aalto’s furniture is rarely upholstered, but Chair 69 and the armchair 45 come with an upholstered seat, and the easy chair 400 “Tank” from 1936 is fully upholstered. We reupholster those in wool or leather.