Aalto stool E60, birch

Stool E60, designed by Alvar Aalto for Artek, is one of the icons of Finnish furniture design. The four-legged Aalto stool is still today a beautiful, genius product whose simple shape will always be modern. Stool E60 makes a perfect extra chair and can also be used as a small table, for instance, next to an armchair or bed. The stools are easily stackable as a beautiful tower when not in use.

The Aalto stool was presented for the first time in 1933 and it was a sensation in the design world of its time. The stool’s revolutionary L-leg structure was a major boost for the modern Scandinavian design language. To bend the leg of Aalto’s stool, the same technique is still in use: a piece of straight, solid birch was sawn open at the end in the direction of the fibres, forming the shape of a fan. Thin pieces of birch veneer were then glued in the grooves. This structure makes it possible to bend the wood by heating or steaming at the desired angle and when dry, the L-leg will have a very strong texture that can be easily joined to the seat.

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.