N65 Children's Chair in Lacquered Birch and Black Linoleum by Alvar Aalto

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N65 Children's Chair in Lacquered Birch and Black Linoleum by Alvar Aalto

About the Item

In the late 1920s, architect and designer Alvar Aalto began experimenting with bending wood. In collaboration with furniture manufacturer Otto Korhonen, the Finnish master developed a ground-breaking process that resulted in the L-leg. To create the L-leg, cuts are made in the end of a piece of wood, with the slits extending just below the level of the planned bend. Wood veneer strips are then inserted and glued. This simplifies the bending process and increases the stability of the component. Aalto called the L-leg “the little sister of the architectural column,” and its arrival announced a break with longstanding traditions of furniture production. Patented by Aalto in 1933, this technique meant that the warm, organic qualities of wood could be used to form stable hardwearing designs. Its system of standard components enabled the creation of more than 50 versatile products. Designed in 1935 by Alvar Aalto, Children’s Chair N65 boasts clean lines and a simple, elemental structure. The chair models a low rectangular backrest formed from a single piece of birch plywood. Since the backrest follows a slight curve, it forms naturally to the back, offering comfort and support. Created from the original L-leg system of standardized components, Children’s Chair N65 features the recognizable circular seat. Equally suited to homes, public buildings, and educational facilities, it has been part of children’s lives for generations. Legs and seat edge-band: Solid birch Seat core versions: Solid birch, Birch plywood Seat surface versions: Birch veneer, High-pressure laminate, Linoleum, Fabric upholstery and PU foam padding, Leather upholstery and PU foam padding, Leather upholstery Backrest: Form-pressed birch plywood

Creator:
Artek (Manufacturer),Alvar Aalto (Designer)
Design:
Children's Chair N65L-Leg Series
Dimensions:
Height: 23.63 in (60 cm)Width: 13.78 in (35 cm)Depth: 14.97 in (38 cm)Seat Height: 14.77 in (37.5 cm)
Style:
Scandinavian Modern (In the Style Of)
Materials and Techniques:
Birch
Place of Origin:
Finland
Period:
21st Century
Date of Manufacture:
Contemporary
Production Type:
New & Custom(Current Production)
Estimated Production Time:
7-8 weeks
Condition:
Seller Location:
New York, NY
Reference Number:
Seller: 281008531stDibs: LU3601319058302

Shop All Alvar Aalto

Alvar Aalto

An architect and designer, Alvar Aalto deserves an immense share of the credit for bringing Scandinavian modernism and Nordic design to a prominent place in the global arena. In both his buildings and his vintage furniture — which ranges from chairs, stools, 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 with his wife, Aino Aalto, in 1930 as part of the overall design of a Finnish tuberculosis sanatorium.

Comfortable, yet light enough to be easily moved by patients, the Paimio 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 the headrest and beneath the knees, creating a sort of pillow effect. Aalto’s use of plywood had an 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 Aino, 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.