Alvar Aalto

Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) is a true legend of Finnish architecture and design and can rightly be considered the founding father of the Scandinavian path to Modernism, richer in warmth and closer to nature than the original model. Where Le Corbusier and Marcel Breuer used a cold material such as tubular steel, Aalto introduces curved plywood, in whose use he was a pioneer and master. Another material much loved by him for its natural characteristics was glass, folded in bold and sinuous curves in his creations for Iittala. His most prolific period was the 1930s, to which many of his most famous architectural projects date back, such as the Viipuri library, the Paimio sanatorium or the famous Villa Mairea in Noormarkku. In 1935 he founded the Artek company together with his wife Aino Marsio, his long-time collaborator, and other partners. The brand was dedicated to the mass production of the furniture and lamps he conceived and will meet an incredible worldwide success, which lasts until today.