1928 was the date of Alvar Aalto and his wife Aino that won the architectural competition to build a tuberculosis sanitarium near the Finnish city of Paimio. Construction begun when they were also commissioned to do the building’s interior design. In the beginning they considered using the new Bauhaus tubular steel furniture they already owned the Wassily club chair designed by Marcel Breuer but then quickly decided in favor of wood, for much of this nickel and chrome-plated steel furniture seemed to us to be psychologically too hard for an environment of sick persons. We began working with wood, using this warmer and many more material in combination with practical structures to create an appropriate furnishing style for patients.
The first examples of these attempts were shown 1929 at the 700th anniversary celebration of the city of Turku. In 1933 work on the Paimio sanitarium was completed, and at the suggestion of Architectural Review, Aalto’s architectural projects and furniture designs were shown in the London department store Fortnum and Mason’s. The following year, the new furniture was already a part of the standard program at Wohnbedarf AG in Zurich. As the manufacturer’s export marketing left much to be desired, Alvar and Aino Aalto opened their own gallery and distributing company in 1935, inspired by Wohnbedarf AG in Zurich.
The enterprise, which they called Artek that mean art and technology was to be a “center for contemporary furniture, interior decoration, art, and industrial art.” Aalto soon enjoyed worldwide fame after presentations at the VI Milan Triennial in 1936, and having designed the Finnish pavilion for the 1937 world’s fair in Paris and the 1939 world’s fair in New York, preceded by a solo exhibition of his work at the MoMA in 1938. The “Paimio” chair quickly became popular and was produced in large quantities. It is made of bent laminated veneer and is the result of numerous bending trials using birch wood that is in part naturally damp. As birch wood is plentiful throughout Finland and the production method required no expensive technology, it was possible to manufacture the chair at relatively low cost. Despite its lack of upholstery, the springy seat afforded comfortable sitting, and was suited for modern interiors with its contemporary, natural, and unobtrusive form. It paved the way for the Scandinavian-influence furniture design which lasted until the sixties.
The enterprise, which they called Artek that mean art and technology was to be a “center for contemporary furniture, interior decoration, art, and industrial art.” Aalto soon enjoyed worldwide fame after presentations at the VI Milan Triennial in 1936, and having designed the Finnish pavilion for the 1937 world’s fair in Paris and the 1939 world’s fair in New York, preceded by a solo exhibition of his work at the MoMA in 1938. The “Paimio” chair quickly became popular and was produced in large quantities. It is made of bent laminated veneer and is the result of numerous bending trials using birch wood that is in part naturally damp. As birch wood is plentiful throughout Finland and the production method required no expensive technology, it was possible to manufacture the chair at relatively low cost. Despite its lack of upholstery, the springy seat afforded comfortable sitting, and was suited for modern interiors with its contemporary, natural, and unobtrusive form. It paved the way for the Scandinavian-influence furniture design which lasted until the sixties.
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