Rare Shelf Designed by Alvar Aalto for Hedemora, Sweden, 1933
About the Item
- Creator:Alvar Aalto (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 21.26 in (54 cm)Width: 33.47 in (85 cm)Depth: 11.82 in (30 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1933
- Condition:Refinished.
- Seller Location:Stockholm, SE
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1006620578952
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.
You May Also Like
Vintage 1940s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Shelves
Birch
Vintage 1940s Finnish Modern Shelves
Birch
Early 20th Century European Shelves
Birch, Plywood
Vintage 1950s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Shelves
Birch
Vintage 1940s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Shelves
Birch, Paint
Vintage 1960s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Shelves
Birch
Vintage 1950s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Shelves
Birch, Oak
Vintage 1940s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Shelves
Birch
Vintage 1960s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Shelves
Birch
Vintage 1970s Finnish Modern Shelves
Birch
More From This Seller
View AllMid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Shelves
Metal
Vintage 1950s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal
Vintage 1950s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal
Vintage 1930s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Birch, Plywood
Mid-20th Century Finnish Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Pine
Mid-20th Century Finnish Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Sets
Birch
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.