Sofa A579 by Alvar Aalto for Artek, Finland, 1950s

The History of Alvar Aalto

Finnish architect Alvar Aalto’s concern for design as a total work of art or ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’, made him passionate about both the exterior and interior of buildings. Alvar Aalto painted and sculpted as well as designing lamps, textiles, furniture and glassware. The Finnish War of Liberation interrupted Aalto's architecture studies at the Helsinki University of Technology. Nevertheless upon his return from service Aalto completed his studies and graduated in 1921. By 1923, Aalto opened his first architectural office in Jyväskylä called ‘Alvar Aalto, Architect and Monumental Artist’. In 1925, he married fellow architect Aino Marsio.

The Work of Alvar Aalto

The work of Alvar Aalto adopted many styles throughout his long career. His early work such as the Jyväskylä Worker’s Club in 1925 was influenced by Nordic Classicism while his 1930s designs are far more functional. This shift is exemplified by the Viipuri Library, the Turun Sanomat Building and the Paimio Sanatorium. From the 1940s onwards his work came to embrace a more organic modernist style including significant buildings such as the National Museum, Helsinki and the Finlandia Concert Hall. Following Aino’s death in 1949 Aalto married his assistant Elissa Mäkiniemi in 1952. She completed many of Aalto’s works after his death in 1976 including the Essen Opera House in Germany.

Alvar Aalto at PAMONO

In the late 1920s and 1930s Aalto designed many furniture and lighting pieces. He was the first designer to use the cantilever principle in the design of wooden chairs. Most notable of these is his Paimio Chair, from 1932. Aalto’s High Stool and Stool E60 manufactured by Artek are currently used to seat customers in the Apple Store. His furniture designs are wonderful examples of the Scandinavian modern aesthetic. Pamono’s curated collection includes many of Aalto’s designs including his infamous furniture and glassware. We at Pamono prioritise quality and authenticity. Rest assured our Alvar Aalto collection is comprised of authentic items from only the best dealers.

Finnish architects Alvar (1898-1976) and Aino Aalto (1894-1949), married in 1925, were early proponents of modernism in Scandinavia. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, they began to develop designs, from buildings and interiors to furniture and objects, characterized by innovative, streamlined forms and state-of-the-art materials and processes. The Aaltos’ work—as expressed, for example, in the curvilinear, bent plywood Paimio Chair, created for their Paimio Tuberculosis Sanatoriam (1928-1933)—quickly came to be seen among the international design cognoscenti as a humanistic antidote to the “cold” steel-and-glass designs associated with German, Bauhausian modernism. Following a series of successful exhibitions abroad, especially at Milan’s influential Triennale expo in 1933, the Aaltos and their furniture were in high demand. In 1935, with the help of art critic and future CEO Nils-Gustav Hahl (1904-1941) and art patron Maire Gullichsen (1907-1990), the Aaltos launched Artek in Helsinki, not only to sell and market their furniture, but also “to promote a modern culture of living by exhibitions and other educational means.”

Until the 1950s, the Aaltos designed most of Artek’s products—most notably their Stool 60 (1933), Screen 100 (1936), Tea Trolley 901 (1936), and Stool Y61 (1947). In the years after the war, however, the brand began collaborating with impressive Finnish designers like Ilmari Tapiovaara, whose Mademoiselle Chairs (1956) are still a best-seller today; and Tapio Wirkkala, whose ’60s-era glass pendants were put back into production in recent years. Artek’s collaborations in the 21st-century have included major international designers like Konstantin Grcic, Hella Jongerius, and the Bouroullec Brothers. In 2007, the company commissioned Japanese architect Shigeru Ban to design a pavilion; titled The Space of Silence, the project travelled to multiple destinations around the globe.

Since 2013, Artek has been owned by the German brand Vitra, with offices in Helsinki, Berlin, Stockholm, Tokyo, and New York. Artek’s designs are included in institutional collections around the world, including New York’s Museum of Modern Art, Weil am Rhein’s Vitra Design Museum, and London Design Museum, as well as The Alvar Aalto Museum in Jyväskylä and Helsinki.

* All images courtesy of Artek