DESIGN CLASSICS

DAVID MEAGHER

The Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto designed everything from hospitals to large industrial structures, churches and cultural buildings. He also designed some of the 20th century’s most enduring furniture pieces, such as the much-copied Model 60 four-legged stacking stool (a version of which, thanks to Ikea, can be found in millions of households around the world). But it is the glassware he created with his wife Aino for the Finnish company Iittala that has become an icon of Nordic design.

Aalto was an architect who viewed building design as a Gesamtkunstwerk, or “total work of art”. For Aalto this meant designing not just the building but also the interiors, the furniture, the surfaces such as carpets and textiles, as well as the light fittings and even the glassware. The Aalto vase design was the result of one such commission – for the Savoy restaurant in Helsinki, which opened in 1937 – and it was considered innovative at the time for the way in which it allowed flowers to be displayed in unusual and original ways due to its organic shape.

Each 160mm high vase is hand blown in Finland, which means that each one is unique. The Aalto glass design has also been used for tea lights and bowls, and now comes in myriad colours.

This year Iitala has released a design from the Aalto archives called the “3032”. At 270mm, it is a taller vase and has a rounder, softer shape.

The 3032 comes in clear glass and a warmer “linen” colour. $399 from iittala.com.au

The vase designed by Alvar Aalto and made by Iittala. Each vase is hand blown in Finland