Aalto Furniture

“My furniture rarely, if ever, arises as the result of professional design. Almost without exception, I have designed it in conjunction with architectural projects, a mixed bag of public buildings, aristocratic residences, and workers’ huts. It’s great fun to design furniture in this way." - Alvar Aalto.

Alvar Aalto is often regarded as Finland's most famous architect. He not only used his talents to create beautiful buildings, but also to design interior features like furniture. Some of his most celebrated furniture pieces came from the Paimio Sanatorium, including its namesake chair designed for sitting tuberculosis patients. The building was considered the flagship of Finnish Functionalism.

Aalto invented a new form of laminated bent-plywood furniture, which he patented in 1933. The result of this unique method of bending birch wood is the "L-leg" that be can be found on many of his furniture forms. Perhaps the most notable example of this work is with his iconic Stool 60 design. The three-legged, stackable stool is still made with the same production method today by his founding company, Artek.