On 6 September 2013, Vitra acquires Artek. Two venerable and like-minded bastions of avant garde modern furniture agree to partner. How like-minded? The logos may say it all.
panton chair | verner panton | vitra | 1967 | click > enlarge
stool 60 special edition series | tom dixon, comme des garçons, mike meiré, monocle, mads nørgaard, nao tamura | artek | 2013 (based on 1933 original by alvar aalto)
[ artek ] Artek was founded in 1935 by Alvar and Aino Aalto, Maire Gullichsen and Nils-Gustav Hahl. The business idea of the company was “to sell furniture and to promote a modern culture of habitation by exhibitions and other educational means.” That was the beginning of Artek. The Artek collection comprises design furniture and lighting fixtures by the Nordic masters Alvar Aalto, Ilmari Tapiovaara, Tapio Wirkkala and Eero Aarnio. The latest addition to the portfolio consists of products by Yrjö Kukkapuro. The masterpiece of Kukkapuro, the Karuselli chair, will be re-launched on the market in the beginning of the year 2014. In addition to classics, Artek is also launching new generation design products under the Artek Studio brand. Alvar Aalto’s furniture represents an interpretation of Scandinavian modernism articulated primarily in Finnish birch wood. Wood and functionality are both hallmarks of the Artek collection. The Artek portfolio represents the most comprehensive collection of wooden design furniture in the world. Artek has international sales offices in New York, Berlin, Stockholm and Tokyo. The domestic market accounts for 60% of the company’s turnover, with Artek holding a solid position in the Finnish consumer and contract market. Vitra’s design classics have for a number of years been an important part of Artek’s collection for the Finnish market. Artek operates four stores in Finland, as well as a wide retail network.
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vitra ] Vitra is a furniture company dedicated to developing healthy, intelligent, inspiring and durable solutions for the office, the home and for public spaces. Vitra’s products and concepts are developed in Switzerland by applying a diligent design process that brings together the company’s engineering excellence with the creative genius of leading international designers. It is our goal to create products with a high functional and aesthetic life expectancy. The Vitra Campus architecture, the Vitra Design Museum, workshops, publications, collections and archives are all integral elements of the Vitra Project. They give Vitra the opportunity to gain perspective and depth in all of its creative activities.
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about phil patton
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We’re stopped by the Artek booth at Maison&Objet 2013 and talked to Simone Vingerhoets-Ziesmann, an executive vice president in New York. Simone tells us that Artek presented the first objects of their new abc Collection at Maison&Objet 2012 last September.
[DesignApplause] Simone what are you showing today?
[Simone Vingerhoets-Ziesmann] We are continuing to present and build on the abc Collection. Important pieces are the reintroduction of the stainless steel TW modular candlestick holder (1970) and the TW serving bowl (1953) designed by Tapio Wirkkala. (This abc Collection is introduced at the January 2013 New York Gift Fair, the first time in the US.)
tw modular candlestick holder and tw serving tray
The Siena fabrics (1954) are designed by Alvar and Elissa AAlto and have been on the European market for a few years and only sold in Artek’s own stores. Blankets, the tea towels, the bags, the trivits, the coasters are all added to the collection. There will also be seasonal additions, such as the red on white, and the white on red in the festive seasons. And more will come, from office to tabletop, from indoor to outdoor products. We will add to this collection twice a year.
This year we are also celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Stool 60. Here’s the Paimio color palette from the original (1932) collection. note: Alvar Aalto designed the Paimio Sanatorium in Finland, the building that made him famous, and the colors were used in the structure: the green from the walls, the yellow is from the floors, turquoise from the handrails and walls, and the orange, black, and white are from the furniture.
[ stool 60 80th anniversary ]
stool 60 | alvar aalto | 1933
We commissioned Mike Meiré to reintroduce the stools for the anniversary.
stool 60 | mike meiré | 2012
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Other treats we find on premise in the booth…
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baby rocket | eero aarnio | 2006 & rocket | eero aarnio | 1995
pendant lamp a330s special edition | mike meiré
black / mud painted steel | red plastic cable, detail white | black plastic cable, detail red | yellow plastic cable, detail white / original a330s | alvar aalto | 1952
simone
[ artek ]
stool 60 | alvar aalto | artek | 1933 | click > enlarge
The 1930s marked a breakthrough decade for Alvar Aalto both as an architect and a designer. Stool 60 was first introduced to the international public at the Wood Only exhibition in London in November 1933, to rave reviews – making 2013 Stool 60’s 80th anniversary. The simple, stackable and durable wooden stool represented a new approach to furniture design, and a continuation of the brand of modernism initiated by Bauhaus. The use of wood instead of bent steel was revolutionary at the time. Aalto spent years developing the L-shaped leg at the Korhonen furniture factory. The development of Stool 60 also took several years. Aalto kept testing different technical solutions together with the experts of the factory. The result of their collaboration is a durable and modern technical solution that later on led to the creation of many other classic designs.
stool 60 | mike meiré | artek | 2012
In 1935, just a few days before the founding of Artek, the Municipal Library in Vyborg opened and Stool 60 was used for the first time in a public building. Stool 60 represents a crystallization of the values of Artek concerning the importance of technology, art and ethics. Stool 60 is the number one seller of Artek products and one of the most famous design products of the world.
Throughout 2013, Artek will introduce a series of stools, designed by well-known architects and designers, commemorating the anniversary. This month, we are featuring the stools by Mike Meiré (seen above).
Learn how these colorful stools are put together in this short video:
stool 60 | alvar aalto | artek | 1933
[ artek > stool 60 ]
panton chair | verner panton | vitra | 1967 | click > enlarge
stool 60 special edition series | tom dixon, comme des garçons, mike meiré, monocle, mads nørgaard, nao tamura | artek | 2013 (based on 1933 original by alvar aalto)
