The name Artek is a synthesis of two concepts that were central to the international modernist movement that emerged in the 1920s: art and technology. Indeed, Walter Gropius - founder of the Bauhaus movement - coined the phrase 'art and technology - a new unity'. Technology was understood to include science and industrial production methods, while the conception of art extended beyond the fine arts to encompass architecture and design. The Modernist aim to attain a fruitful union of these two spheres also guided Alvar Aalto and his fellow founders in naming their company in 1935.
Alvar Aalto’s work is characterised by a system of standardised individual components that can be pieced together to form a comprehensive collection of furniture. This idea lends itself particularly well to the concept of working from home - creating a harmonious working environment by combining key pieces of the Artek range - the Compact Home Office. Using the interactive tool below, you can visualise a number of these combinations based on the size and type of space that you wish to utilise. Click on the tool to begin, then select from the three options to define your type of space - floor only, floor and one wall or floor and two walls. Then choose your floor size: small, medium or large. Within each setting are three combinations that you can view by clicking the prompts.
You can start over by clicking the return arrow button (bottom left of the tool) and once you have selected a combination, click the download button to save a PDF with all the details. Then select each of your chosen items to buy from the product listing carousels below. Please ensure that your browser allows third party cookies for the tool to work.
Alvar Aalto was fascinated by wood, keen to explore its possibilities, find out where its limits lay, and discover what modern production methods could achieve. In the late 1920s, Aalto collaborated with the furniture manufacturer Otto Korhonen on a number of innovative techniques. This led to the development of the L-leg, an L-shaped leg composed of solid bent wood that enabled the creation of more than 50 different products. Further experiments with pressed plywood and laminated birch lamella yielded results that made possible some of Aalto’s most iconic designs. Watch the video below to see the production of the famous 60 Stool.
