Futon Heaven

Alvar Aalto (b. 1898, d. 1976) was a famous Finnish architect as well as furniture designer. Despite his attempts, he never found success in his career in Helsinki after his graduation in 1921. He moved and founded an office in a small town. He later died in Helsinki in 1976.

His wife, Aino, was originally hired as his assistant. She was a young woman who designed glass and furniture. Later, they had two children. In the 1920’s and 1930’s, Alvar Aalto designed several well know landmarks in Finland. In the late 1940’s, he taught at MIT. Some of his most well known furniture includes a variety of table designs and lamps.

Alvar Aalto, Aino Aalto, Maire Gullichsen and Nils-Gustav Hahl founded a company named Artek to design furniture. Alvar Aalto designed several classic Aalto furniture (Aalto möbler) including tables, desks, side chairs, lounge chairs, stools, armchairs and children’s furniture. Alvar Aalto designed his first lamps as a student in the university of technology in Helsinki where he won a lighting competition in 1920. The name Aalto is still highly regarded in the world of lighting and lamps as he designed several classic lamp models that are considered as modern today as when he designed them.

Alvar styled his first furnishings even prior to graduation. His innovative structural design office received a large contract for the design creation of furnishings for 6 houses of worship in Finland. In 1929 he styled the well-known Paimio Sanatorium in addition to all the furnishings and light fixtures for it. He styled tailor-made “Aalto tables” as well as additional furnishings for many of his structures.

Alvar styled his first furnishings even prior to graduation. His innovative structural design office received a large contract for the design creation of furnishings for 6 houses of worship in Finland. In 1929 he styled the well-known Paimio Sanatorium in additional to all the furnishings and light fixtures for it. He styled tailor-made “Aalto tables” as well as additional furnishings for every one of his structures.

Alvar Aalto revolutionized the worlds of furniture design and architecture with the style he called “Organic Functionalism”. He is known today as the Father of Modernism, and the Alvar Aalto Medal (created by the Museum of Finnish Architecture and the Finnish Association of Architects) is awarded today to those who are deemed to have made important and creative contributions to the field of architecture. He and his wife are remembered jointly for their glassware designs, perhaps the most famous of which today is the Aalto Vase (Aalto vas).

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Alvar Aalto’s stamp on the world was not limited to furniture (möbler) design; he is remembered as much for his lamp models that have endured for over 80 years as for his classic tables, chairs, and children’s furniture. Before he even graduated, Alvar Aalto began designing his first furniture. Once in his new architecture office, he received a huge order to design furniture for six churches in Finland. He also designed each piece of furniture in the structure, as well as an aalto lamp. For each structure he designed, he also designed custom tables and other furniture for the interior design (inredning).

- Richard Guilfoyle