Aino Aalto

Aino Aalto, born Aino Marsio, was born in Helsinki in 1894. In 1924 she got married to Alvar Aalto, the same year she was employed at his architecture business. Alvar and Aino weren’t only life companions, but also worked closely together until Aino passed away in 1949. Together Alvar and Aino founded Artek – a business that sold wooden furniture. The furniture was manufactured with a unique technique that they themselves discovered together with a local carpenter.

Besides the furniture, lighting and textiles, Aino Aalto is probably most known for her glass ranges, in particular the Bölgeblick range that today is simply called Aalto. The design came about when the glasswork Karhula-Iittala hosted a design competition. Bölgeblick made second place, but was taken into production a couple of years later anyway. The range is still in production today. A true classic that has stood the test of time.

Aino Aalto was a pioneer of Finnish design, creating bold, strong and unprejudiced design and architecture. Just like her husband Alvar Aalto, Aino believed that design should not only be beautiful to look at, but be functional and accessible to everyone.