Aalto armchair 400 "Tank", birch - Zebra

Artek's Armchair 400, also known as Tank, is one of the absolute milestones in furniture design of the 1900s. Alvar Aalto designed the Tank chair in 1936 for the Milan Triennale. The voluminous chair attracted much attention and was awarded during the fair. Armchair 400 was an exception compared to Aalto’s previous pieces of furniture both for its shape and for its premises: previously had Aalto designed all his chairs for a certain architecture destination, but the Tank was designed as commission work for the Triennale. The sturdy seat and the wide armrests offer a comfortable seating experience and give the chair its characteristic, tank-like appearance. The lightness seen in Aalto’s first chairs had now changed into a more massive look and the barycentre had become lower, but the appearance is still airy and organic. Armchair 400 is available in several upholstery options: the zebra fabric is one of the original upholsteries.

Alvar Aalto

Artek was founded in 1935 by four young idealists – Alvar and Aino Aalto, Nils-Gustav Hahl and Maire Gullichsen published a design manifesto inspired by functionalism, stating that Artek’s aim was “to sell furniture and to promote modern culture of habitation by exhibitions and other means”. Since its foundation, Artek has played in the intersection of design, architecture, and art, making Finnish design and Alvar Aalto's furniture known all over the world.