The story behind Alvar Aalto’s three most iconic interior pieces

Aalto means wave in Finnish. It is a fitting surname for the iconic Finnish designer Alvar Aalto, whose most recognisable piece, the Aalto vase, made literal and figurative waves when it was introduced by design brand littala at the Paris World Exposition in 1937. Its distinctive sculptural, swooping curves have made the vase synonymous with Finnish design excellence ever since.

“There has been much speculation as to where Aalto found the ideas for the free-form vase and his architecture,” says Katja Karttunen, senior product manager for Iittala. “Sometimes his designs are seen as reflecting the winding shores of Finland’s lakes.”

Created by one of the Nordics’ most emblematic architects in collaboration with his then-wife, Aino, the vase was part of the couple’s prize-winning entry to Karhula-Iittala’s 1936 design competition. “It marked Aino and Alvar Aalto’s first attempts to use glass as a medium,” says Karttunen. “Alvar Aalto wanted to ‘free’ glass from geometric shapes and create an impression of organic, living forms.”

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The partnership between Aalto and Iittala led to the worldwide phenomenon that is the ‘Aalto Vase’, an object that is found in most Scandinavian homes and still produced today. As Karttunen puts it, “The vase is one of the most famous glass objects in the world.” Mari Murtoniemi, chief curator at the Alvar Aalto Foundation, shares the sentiment. “We have all grown up surrounded by Aalto design in our homes, schools, and libraries,” she says.

According to Antti Tevajärvi, a design specialist at Artek 2nd Cycle, a Helsinki store that resells used Aalto pieces to give them a new life, Aalto is widely considered the godfather of Nordic modernism. “Aalto’s early works in the realm of architecture and design really set the foundation for the legacy which we now call the golden era of Finnish design.”

Born in 1898, the Finnish archi tect’s career spanned the 1920s to the 1970s, with Aalto working until his death in 1976. Though the Aalto Vase represents the avant-garde – an experiment with new, unconventional forms and ideas – the process of making it has remained the same as it was almost 90 years ago. The object is mouth-blown, requiring seven artisans, 12 work stages, 1,100 °C and 30 hours to make a single vase. It takes at least five years of training for a glassblower to master the task.

“Glassblowing is a form of embodied know-how that cannot be learned by observation or in struction alone,” says Karttunen. “The addition of layers, the placement of the air pocket, the pressure and control of the temperature of the pipe all demand knowledge of the laws of physics and accurate hand-eye coordination. Even the insertion of the molten glass into the mould requires controlled precision.”

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But the vase isn’t the only Aalto design to have cemented itself into the Nordic home. The Finnish master founded a furniture company in December of 1935 together with Aino: Artek. The architect’s furniture works offer a slightly warmer portrayal of modern design, forsaking cold steel and replacing it with bent wood. Alongside the ultra-modern forms of their designs, the materials used play a crucial role in the pieces’ timeless appeal. Wood, rattan, glass, paper, linen, brass, leather, ceramics and brick all age gracefully.

Aalto worked with carpenter Otto Korhonen, who had a furniture factory and was well-versed in manufacturing techniques. The collaboration resulted in several innovative pieces of bent and laminated wooden furniture. In 1933, they invented a production method that could bend solid pieces of wood into the L-shaped form intended for the legs of chairs and tables.

“Aalto and Korhonen spent ages testing the L-leg, bending by hand, figuring out the properties of wood and how it behaves in the various bending experiments,” says Tevajärvi. “The proportions of the L-leg could be changed according to the need. This is one of the notions which make the design simply genius.” The new manufacturing method led to one of the most recognisable Aalto pieces: the Stool ‘60’. Lightweight, pragmatic, practical, and most importantly, stackable. Placed one on top of the other, a few simple stools became beautifully spiralling towers.

Collaboration was a concept that followed Aalto throughout his career. When the architect went through a substantial creative period with light designs in the 1950s, he required a master metalworker and electrician to realise his ideas. This led Aalto to partner with Viljo Hirvonen. The fruitful friendship saw Hirvonen establish the metal and lighting atelier Valaistustyö Ky, producing many of the light and metal fittings for Aalto’s projects and Artek’s product catalogue until the founder’s death in 1975.

One such design was the ‘A 805’. “It is especially ‘Aaltoesque’ in its asymmetrical shape,” says Murtoniemi. Also known as the ‘Angel Wing’, It has typical Aalto light features: the stacked white shade is hand-riveted and formed from delicate, metal strips. The light filters and reflects along the metal. The shaft is gracefully finished in black leather. “Aalto was very much inspired by indirect light and the usage of natural light in spaces,” explains Tevajärvi. “Many Aalto lamp models tend to be a true shadow-play of the light and the dark, creating sculptural shades which filter the light through elegant perforation details.”

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Arguably the most crucial aspect of Aalto and his local contemporaries was the unwavering dedication to Nordic nature. Whether reflected literally or in abstract references, it is a relationship that has defined local design over the past century. According to Karttunen, spending time in nature was essential to Aalto, as it is to most Finns. “You can see the influence of nature in Aalto’s work: the shapes in his architecture, furniture and glassware,” says Karttunen. “He was able to push the boundaries to create unique designs from any material, and they fit effortlessly in almost any home.”

Aalto’s approach to architecture was just as fastidious as his approach to his beloved design objects. “Aalto’s buildings were always holistic entities. From the very smallest details to the very broad constructions – all echo Aalto’s presence,” says Tevajärvi. “To me, this is Finnish Design at its best.” Aalto’s influence on present- day Finnish and Nordic interior design is undeniable. Generation after generation is drawn to his simple and timeless shapes. In a way, his iconic interiors have become an international beacon of taste, with his legacy resting sturdily on his three-legged stools. As Aalto once said himself, “beauty is the harmony of purpose and form.”