Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) was a Finnish designer and architect. One of the most significant persons in Finnish design. His wide range of work in architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware was impressive. He had designed several hospitals, concert houses, museums and private homes around the world. Also he designed several items which are still nowadays popular classic items that people buy to their homes.
Let’s start with his most known item, Savoy-vase, the icon of Finnish design (also called Aalto-vase). The vase was published in 1930 at New York World’s Fair and it caused immediately a lot of discussion of its wavy design that the form looked alive but still timeless. Aalto means “wave” in Finnish which describes well his artwork. The inspiration for this shape has come from waves in the water.
The designer didn’t want to put any limits of the way of use. You can have flowers, candles, serve food, anything what you want. The vase is an everyday item in Finnish homes.
Nowadays there is available different sizes and seasonal colors of the vase and also the wavy form has inspired other products.
The products are produced by Iiittala, old traditional glass factory from Finland. All vases are handmade, mouth blown in Finland so every vase is an unique piece.
One vase needs:
- 7 craftsmen
- 12 steps in the producing process
- 16 hours of work
Iittala has announced new color of the Savoy vase to celebrate Finland’s 100 years independency. This special ultramarine color is only available during this year 2017.
Alvar Aalto is so very Finnish, his furniture and vases are household items ❤️🇫🇮
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Thank you Suvi for your comment! Yes, I agree and I love the simple forms so you don’t even get bored after several years. Lifetime household items 🙂
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