Alvar Aalto

Alvar Aalto is one of Finland’s most renowned architects and designers. He was one of the pioneers in modern architecture with his unique, signature designs. Throughout his career, he designed concert halls, libraries, hospitals and even a handful of privately owned homes. Alvar Aalto designed furniture to his brand Artek – a brand he founded with his wife Aino Aalto in 1935. Together they experimented with wood and created new ways of manufacturing furniture.

His most famous design is the Aalto vase, or Savoy, as it was originally called. The vase was designed for Iittala in 1936 and has become somewhat of an iconic design piece when talking about Scandinavian interior design. The organic, swung shape seems natural and nearly simple in its design, but was revolutionary and unique when first presented in Paris. All vases are mouth-blown in the Iittala glasswords. Each vase requires seven skilled craftsmen at twelve working stations to create.

Both Aino and Alvar Aalto had the philosophy and approach that design shouldn’t only be beautiful to look at, but should be functional and accessible to everybody.