ALVAR AALTO
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“ I tell you, it is easier to build a grand opera or a city center than to build a personal house.“
ABOUT HIM Alvar Aalto’s name is well-known throughout the world of modern architecture and design. Over the course of his lifetime, he distinguished himself with his •owing vases and avant-garde furniture. Even now, his designs are recreated by Finnish company, iittala, keeping his vision alive through faithful reproductions of his work. Aalto was born February 3, 1898 in Kuortane, Finland. He went to school at the Helsinki University of Technology where he studied architecture. Upon graduating, he returned to Jyväskylä to open his !rst architectural o"ce in 1923. He later married famed designer, Aino Marsio (later Aino Aalto). Together the couple collaborated on a variety of projects, from large-scale architectural designs to furniture and glassworks.
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Alvar Aalto’s architecture was met with wide acclaim among modernist circles. He designed buildings both in his native Finland and abroad. His works include the renowned Finlandia Hall in Helsinki, Finland as well as the Baker House at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Alvar Aalto approached modernism from a humanist perspective, designing buildings that were meant to delight the people who inhabited them. He has been credited with being one of the most in!uential architects of the Scandinavian modernist movement. In addition to his architecture, Aalto is also well respected for his legendary glassware, which includes the Aalto vase. The vase was unveiled at the 1937 Paris World’s Fair and has been an international sensation ever since. Its mysterious form has become iconic and is still reproduced by iittala in a variety of color waves.
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DESIGN
Aalto Vase
Born from a special glass recipe at iittala's glass factory in Finland, the Ultramarine blue hue celebrates the 100th anniversary of Finnish independence. Alvar Aalto designed the •uid lines of this vase in 1936, which beautifully re•ect the curving shores and rolling waves of Finland's many bodies of water. Though the award-winning design's raw beauty seems like an organic occurrence, it requires 7 craftsmen, 12 work stages and 30 hours to create just one of these extraordinary works of art. Flowers will bunch beautifully in the iittala Aalto 6-1/4" Vase, but its purpose far surpasses •oral arrangements. Aalto wanted to let the end user decide its use, whether that be to hold the paintbrushes of an artist or the marbles of an avid collector.
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Paimio Scroll
Aalto's intriguing and most famous chair, the 41 Paimio armchair can be found in numerous museums including the Museum of Modern Art. The laminated birch frame is bent into a unique closed curve supported by solid birch cross-rails. The seat is molded from one piece of birch plywood and is offered in two high-shine laminate colors. The idea of •xing plywood onto a closed frame was Aalto's 1931 brainstorm for making a wooden chair "soft" and as a result this wooden chair has a springy quality.
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Stool 60
This stackable stool was designed by Alvar Aalto during the years of 1932-33. Aalto developed the bent L-shaped leg to achieve his ultimate design aesthetic which mixed art and nature with technology. This unique bending technology became the basis of Stool 60 and was later patented. Comprised of solid birch, both the seat and legs are a beautiful honey color and !nished with a light coat of veneer to allow the natural wood grain to shine through. On permaanent collection at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the simplicity and innovative technology captured by this three-legged stool is timeless.
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Other
CHAIR 65
CHAIR 611
CHAIR 23
BEEHIVE CEILINH LAMP A331
PENDANT CEILING LAMP A110
GOLDEN BELL CEILING LAMP A330S
DAY BED 710
WALL SHELLF 112
TEA TROLLEY 900
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ARCHITECTURE
Jyväskylä University Building (1951)
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House of culture in Helsinki (1955)
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Heilig Geist Kirche (1962)
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Other
STEPHANUSKIRCHE (1968)
MUURATSALO EXPERIMENTAL HOUSE (1953)
RIOLA PARISH CHURCH (1978)
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“The ultimate goal of the architect...is to create a paradise. Every house, every product of architecture... should be a fruit of our endeavour to build an earthly paradise for people.� Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto