Further Reading

Alvar Aalto was born in Kuortane, Finland in 1908, and he lived until 1976. He was a renowned Finnish architect and designer of furniture. His studies led him to architectural school in Helskini, where he graduated in 1921. However, his career did not begin well in Helskini, and so he moved on to a smaller town to start an office and begin his career.

During the 1920's and 1940's, Alvar Aalto designed many famous landmarks while working in Finland. The most famous works include different table designs and lamps. He employed a young glass and furniture designer whom he later married and had two children with. In the 1940's Alvar was a professor at MIT.

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 Aalto designed his first furniture even before he graduated. His new architecture office got a big order for designing furniture for six churches in Finland. In 1929 he designed the famous Paimio Sanatorium and all the furniture and lamps for it. He designed custom "Alvar Aalto tables" and other furniture for each of his buildings.

At this time he started to patent his methods for bending wood and he was awarded several patents in many countries for this new form of laminated bent-plywood furniture. The Alvar Aalto 901 tea cart is famous for this bent wood construction along with various chairs and Aalto tables. Together with other famous designers such as Bruno Mathsson and Yngve Ekstrom, Aalto became renowned for this style of furniture design which contributed greatly to the concept of "Scandinavian Modern" design.

The Father of Modernism in the Nordic countries, Alvar Aalto referred to his style as "Organic Functionalism". He has left a significant impact on the furniture design and architecture fields. He and his wife also designed some well known glassware, including the Aalto Vase. The final compliment he received was the introduction of the Alvar Aalto Medal by the Museum of Finnish Architecture and the Finnish Association of Architects. This medal is granted for important contributions to creative architects.

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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).