Alvar Aalto Furniture

An architect and designer, Alvar Aalto deserves an immense share of the credit for bringing Scandinavian modernism to a prominent place in the global arena. In both his buildings and in his furnishings — which range from chairs, tables and lighting to table- and glassware — Aalto’s sensitivity to the natural world and to organic forms and materials tempered the hardness of rationalist design.
Relatively few Aalto buildings exist outside Finland. (Just four exist in the United States, and only one — the sinuous 1945 Baker House dormitory at M.I.T. — is easily visited.) International attention came to Aalto, whose surname translates to English as “wave,” primarily through his furniture.
Instead of the tubular metal framing favored by the Bauhaus designers and Le Corbusier, Aalto insisted on wood. His aesthetic is best represented by the Paimio armchair, developed in 1930 as part of his overall design of a Finnish tuberculosis sanatorium. Comfortable, yet light enough to be easily moved by patients, the chair’s frame is composed of two laminated birch loops; the seat and back are formed from a single sheet of plywood that scrolls under at the headrest and beneath the knees, creating a sort of pillow effect. Aalto’s use of plywood had enormous influence on Charles Eames, Arne Jacobsen, Marcel Breuer and others who later came to the material.
Concerned with keeping up standards of quality in the production of his designs, Aalto formed the still-extant company Artek in 1935, along with his wife, Aino Aalto, whose glass designs were made by the firm. In the latter medium, in 1936 the Aaltos together created the iconic, undulating Savoy vase, so-called for the luxe Helsinki restaurant for which the piece was designed. Artek also produced Aalto lighting designs, many of which — such as the Angel’s Wing floor lamp and the Beehive pendant — incorporate a signature Aalto detail: shades made of concentric enameled-metal rings graduated down in diameter. The effect of the technique is essential Alvar Aalto: at once precise, simple, and somehow poetic.




1950s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Metal, Brass
1930s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Birch
1950s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Birch
1950s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Faux Leather, Birch
1960s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Leather, Wood
Mid-20th Century Finnish Scandinavian Modern Alvar Aalto Furniture
Birch
1950s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Brass
1960s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Leather, Wood
Mid-20th Century Finnish Mid-Century Modern Alvar Aalto Furniture
Beech
2010s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Alvar Aalto Furniture
Birch
1930s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Plywood
1970s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Plywood
1970s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Birch
Mid-20th Century Finnish Scandinavian Modern Alvar Aalto Furniture
Birch
1970s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Glass
1960s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Natural Fiber, Bentwood
1960s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Wood
1950s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Metal, Brass
1960s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Metal
1960s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Metal
1940s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Birch
1960s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Metal
1960s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Metal
1970s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Wood
1930s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Birch
1960s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Wood
1950s Finnish Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Brass, Steel
1940s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Bakelite, Bentwood
1960s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Wood
1930s Finnish Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Plywood
1950s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Metal, Brass
Mid-20th Century Finnish Mid-Century Modern Alvar Aalto Furniture
Bentwood
1940s Finnish International Style Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Glass
1940s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Glass
1950s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Birch
1960s Spanish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Bentwood
1930s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Birch, Plywood
Mid-20th Century Finnish Mid-Century Modern Alvar Aalto Furniture
Brass
1950s Finnish Organic Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Birch
1940s European Scandinavian Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Leather, Birch
1940s European Scandinavian Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Leather, Birch
Mid-20th Century Finnish Mid-Century Modern Alvar Aalto Furniture
Brass
1950s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Brass, Steel
1950s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Brass
1950s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Aluminum, Brass
1950s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Brass
1950s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Brass, Steel
1930s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Birch
1960s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Birch
1930s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Birch
1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Birch
Late 20th Century Finnish Mid-Century Modern Alvar Aalto Furniture
Bentwood
Mid-20th Century Swedish Scandinavian Modern Alvar Aalto Furniture
Birch
1950s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Leather, Birch
1950s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Brass
1950s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Alvar Aalto Furniture
Birch
Mid-20th Century Finnish Mid-Century Modern Alvar Aalto Furniture
Birch
Mid-20th Century Finnish Mid-Century Modern Alvar Aalto Furniture
Birch