Design Forum Finland

ALVAR AALTO: STOOL 60,
Artek Oy Ab

World-famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto (1898–1976) was also a renowned designer. He designed the three-legged stool in 1933, continuing the pale, clean-lined, and functional tradition of Scandinavian design.
Aalto relied heavily on organic shapes in both his architecture and his design work. The stool’s signature bent-wood legs – a technical innovation in their own right – are repeated in many of Aalto’s other furniture pieces. Artek continues to market the stool and other Aalto-designed pieces today.

www.artek.fi
www.alvaraalto.fi

< Stool 60, 1933, lacquered birch,
Artek Oy Ab
Photo: Matti Pyykkö / Artek

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KAJ FRANCK: KILTA tableware,
Oy Arabia Ab (currently Iittala Group)

Kaj Franck (1911–1989) played a significant role in the history of Finnish design: he worked as both a teacher at the University of Art and Design Helsinki as well as a glass and ceramics designer for the Arabia and Nuutajärvi manufacturing companies. Arabia started producing the Kilta collection in 1953. In its time, Kilta was a “revolution in the cupboard”: it was a collection of multipurpose pieces that functioned individually yet shared a uniform aesthetic. The stackable dishware was very practical in the post-war era,
when housing was scarce and apartments small. Production of Kilta ended in 1975, but in 1981 Franck and his team relaunched the series, currently marketed under the name Teema.

www.iittala.com

< Kilta tableware (now known as Teema), 1953, faience, Oy Arabia Ab
Photo: Design Forum Finland

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