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| Alvar Aalto |
Alvar Aalto (1898 – 1976), a Finish architect and designer designed the Paimio chair. Not only restricted to just architecture and furniture, Aalto worked with textiles and glassware as well. During the first half of the 21st century Finland witnessed a rapid economic growth and industrialization, because of this most of Aalto’s (whose career fell between this time) clients were industrialists. Aalto’s designs range from Nordic Classicism, International Modernism to a more organic modernist style from the 1940’s onwards. He was a highly talented architect and an eager spokesman for the international modernist movement. Aalto’s designs were radical and innovative and became known for his experimental approach to bending wood.
Aalto designed the Paimio Armchair 41 in 1931. The chair was inspired by Marcel Breuer’s tubular steel Wassily Chair (1927) but instead of using steel the chair was constructed using bent birch plywood, in Finland by Artek. The chair’s framework is made using two closed loops of laminated wood (birch) and the seat is a thin sheet of plywood, also birch, tightly bent at the top and bottom to give the seat structural rigidity.  |
| Exploded view of the Armchair 41 |
The chair was originally designed to be used in the patient’s lounge in the Paimio Sanatorium, a tuberculosis sanatorium designed by Aalto. The angled back of the chair was designed to ease the breathing of the patients by encouraging them to lie back instead of sitting upright.
This chair could be found in many museums including the Museum of Modern Art. It can also be found in homes of modern design lovers. Originally designed to be used as a chair for patients in the waiting lounge of a hospital in the 1930’s, the Paimio chair is now a design icon, epitomising simplicity and modern design. Today the chair boasts a price tag of over US$3,500.
“Objects are made to be completed by the human mind.” – Alvar Aalto
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