Side Chair by Alvar Aalto
View Similar Items
Side Chair by Alvar Aalto
About the Item
- Creator:Alvar Aalto (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 34.85 in (88.5 cm)Width: 18.9 in (48 cm)Depth: 22.84 in (58 cm)Seat Height: 17.72 in (45 cm)
- Style:Scandinavian Modern (Of the Period)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1930s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Copenhagen, DK
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU102861134678
Alvar Aalto
An architect and designer, Alvar Aalto deserves an immense share of the credit for bringing Scandinavian modernism to a prominent place in the global arena. In both his buildings and in his vintage furniture — which ranges from chairs, tables and lighting to table- and glassware — Aalto’s sensitivity to the natural world and to organic forms and materials tempered the hardness of rationalist design.
Relatively few Aalto buildings exist outside Finland. (Just four exist in the United States, and only one — the sinuous 1945 Baker House dormitory at M.I.T. — is easily visited.) International attention came to Aalto, whose surname translates to English as “wave,” primarily through his furnishings.
Instead of the tubular metal framing favored by the Bauhaus designers and Le Corbusier, Aalto insisted on wood. His aesthetic is best represented by the Paimio armchair, developed in 1930 as part of his overall design of a Finnish tuberculosis sanatorium. Comfortable, yet light enough to be easily moved by patients, the chair’s frame is composed of two laminated birch loops; the seat and back are formed from a single sheet of plywood that scrolls under at the headrest and beneath the knees, creating a sort of pillow effect. Aalto’s use of plywood had enormous influence on Charles and Ray Eames, Arne Jacobsen, Marcel Breuer and others who later came to the material.
Concerned with keeping up standards of quality in the production of his designs, Aalto formed the still-extant company Artek in 1935, along with his wife, Aino Aalto, whose glass designs were made by the firm. In the latter medium, in 1936 the Aaltos together created the iconic, undulating Savoy vase, so-called for the luxe Helsinki restaurant for which the piece was designed.
Artek also produced Aalto pendants and other lighting designs, many of which — such as the Angel’s Wing floor lamp and the Beehive pendant — incorporate a signature Aalto detail: shades made of concentric enameled-metal rings graduated down in diameter. The effect of the technique is essential Alvar Aalto: at once precise, simple, and somehow poetic.
Find a collection of vintage Alvar Aalto stools, vases, dining tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- Early Model 65 Chair by Alvar Aalto, ,By Alvar AaltoLocated in Buffalo, NYModel 65 encapsulates designer Alvar Aalto’s approach to systematic, rational design within the context of Finnish minimalism; showcasing clean lines and his favoured use of birchwood.The bolts, showcased along the back legs, imbued the chair with Aalto’s signature industrial design sensibility.This is a wonderful early example,, The color ,,finish and patina is outstanding.. Chair seat has been reupholstered in a classic Marimekko fabricCategory
Vintage 1930s Finnish Bauhaus Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Birch
- Chair 611 by Alvar Aalto for ArtekBy Alvar AaltoLocated in Princeton Junction, NJChair 611 by Alvar Aalto for Artek, webbing has been newly done.Category
Mid-20th Century Finnish Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsWood
- 1940s Finnish Dining Chair by Alvar Aalto for ArtekBy Alvar Aalto, ArtekLocated in Sagaponack, NYA dining chair in laminated birch with newly upholstered black leather seat and back.Category
Vintage 1940s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Birch
$5,400 / item - alvar aalto chair69 natural 1930'sBy Alvar AaltoLocated in 東御市, JPDesigned by Alvar Aalto. This chair 69 was manufactured in the 1930s. It has a structure that seems to be an early product that is not found in current products. The paint film from ...Category
Vintage 1930s Finnish Modern Chairs
MaterialsBirch
- Model 66 Chair by Alvar Aalto for ArtekBy Alvar AaltoLocated in Montréal, QCModel 66 Chair by Alvar Aalto for Artek, 1960s. Birchwood frame with fuchsia upholstered seat. In good vintage condition, small tear in seat and wear to wood back. Dimensions: 30"H...Category
Vintage 1960s Finnish Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Birch
- Alvar Aalto "Chair of Our Times", a Collector's GemBy Huonekalu-Ja Rakennustyötedas Oy, Alvar AaltoLocated in Helsinki, FIThis minimalist functionalist chair known as "The product of our time", is a rare gem and is the first chair born of the Alvar Aalto - Otto Korhone...Category
Vintage 1920s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Chairs
MaterialsBirch, Lacquer
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
The Very Modern Love Story of Mid-Century Design Duo Alvar and Aino Aalto
A power couple before the term existed, the influential pair made work that still resonates today.
What Makes Scandinavian Modernism and Nordic Design So Irresistible?
Andrew Duncanson, founder of the Stockholm- and London-based gallery Modernity, weighs in on the masters of mid-century furniture and decorative arts.