Artek turns 90 in 2025. This calls for a party. Since 1935, Artek has continued on the mission of its four founders to bring Finland to the world, and the world to Finland.

Aino and Alvar Aalto travelled in Italy extensively, even spending their honeymoon there. Both of them picked up influences from everywhere they went, and the Siena print is inspired by the Piazza del Duomo in the Tuscan city of Siena.

The Karuselli chair, designed by Yrjö Kukkapuro in 1964, is a perfect example of bringing Finland (or Finnish design) to the world. It was Sir Terence Conran's favourite chair and the New York Times once described it as "the most comfortable chair in the world".

Born in 1933, Yrjö Kukkapuro is one of the true Finnish masters. An experimentalist at heart, his body of work is based on aesthetic and functional innovation.

Alvar Aalto is photographed here in San Francisco in 1939. During the 1930s and 1940s, both he and Aino Aalto travelled frequently to the US, promoting Artek's "modern way of living". 

The enduring popularity of Alvar Aalto's furniture and architectural works owe much to the universal and humane design principles that helped shape Artek’s legacy.

Alvar Aalto loved to be surrounded by likeminded creative friends. Like all the founders, he had a large network of international collaborators that opened up his work, and Artek, to a global audience.

As artistic director and co-founder, Aino Aalto’s aesthetic vision was key to the development of a distinct “Artek style.” She combined simplicity and humanity – this beauty of the everyday – to set a path for contemporary Finnish design, and for Finnish design as a whole.

Aino Aalto loved to travel the world, picking up design influences which she chronicled in travel diaries. This photograph is taken in London by László Moholy-Nagy, the Hungarian painter and photographer known for his work in the Bauhaus movement.

Side table 606 was designed by Aino Aalto in 1932. Originally intended as a stool for changing shoes, it is one of many Artek items that were created for Paimio Sanatorium, Alvar Aalto's modernist architectural masterpiece.

Alvar Aalto’s Tea Trolley 901 brings together two seemingly different influences: British tea culture, which he encountered during his travels to the UK in Artek’s early days, and the Japanese woodwork and architecture he deeply admired.

The Riihitie Plant Pot was originally created by Aino Aalto for the terrace of the Helsinki home that she and Alvar built for their family in 1935. The Aaltos saw the outdoor surroundings as part of the overall architectural experience, contributing to the "beauty of everyday".

Aamu Song and Johan Olin are COMPANY, acting as self-styled detectives who uncover fascinating and unique design stories belonging to local artisans throughout the world. Their Secrets of Finland collection celebrates seasonal rituals belonging to the Finnish calendar.

Designed by COMPANY, Lucia Candleholder celebrates Lucia, the light-bringer triumphing over darkness in the heart of the long Finnish winter. It represents one of the many stories of Nordic folklore revealed in the Secrets of Finland collection.

Aino Aalto travelled through Europe in the 1920s and 1930s, picking up influences everywhere she went. The zebra print, possibly created by famed weaver Otti Berger, has gone on to be used in many Artek products, including Armchair 402.

Daniel Rybakken has made his name as a young Norwegian designer who follows in the Artek tradition of merging artistic expression and functional design, bringing his flair for stripped-down elegance to the Kiila Coat Stand.

The entry point for many into the world of Artek. Stool 60 is both instantly recognisable and highly versatile, the perfect complement to any living space.

Maire Gullichsen was a founder of Artek, acting as the catalyst for bringing modern art and artists to Finland. She also commissioned the Aaltos to design Villa Mairea, now recognised as the embodiment of the Artek interior.

Atelier Chair was designed by TAF Studio, its slender proportions and geometric lines paying homage to Sven Markelius' Orchestra Chair.True to Artek's principle of universal design, it was designed for Stockholm’s Nationalmuseum yet suits any public or private space. 

TAF Studio is the brainchild of Gabriella Lenke and Matthias Ståhlbom. The Stockholm-based studio applies playful and thoughtful design innovation to everything they do, firmly following the Artek idea that no detail is too minor to deserve aesthetic consideration.

Stool 60 actually predates Artek. It was created in 1933, two years before the company was founded to distribute the furniture for which the Aaltos were praised. You can read more about the 90th anniversary of Stool 60 from 2023.

Armchair 41, better known as the 'Paimio Chair,' was designed for tuberculosis patients at Paimio Sanatorium. Its sleek, curved structure promoted easier breathing in patients, while it was crafted from natural materials for tactile comfort.

Lounge chair 43 demonstrates the possibilities that came from Korhonen and Aalto's experiments in woodbending, providing support and felixibility with natural, human-centric materials. 

Stool X600 showcases the X-leg. If Alvar Aalto once referred to the l-leg as the "little sister of the architectural column", the X-leg its ultimate refinement, echoing the gothic fan vaulting found in medieval European churches. 

Hella Jongerius is a renowned Dutch contemporary designer who has, over the years, reworked new colours and materials for limited editions of products including Tea Trolley 901, Armchair 401 and Stool 60.

Alvar Aalto designed bentwood reliefs for display at exhibitions of Aalto furniture in the 1930s. Their purpose was to show visitors the construction methods that resulted from his and master carpenter Otto Korhonen’s then-revolutionary experiments with Finnish birch wood.

Natural, contouring waves were a design signature of Alvar Aalto, first featuring in the Viipuri library ceiling, his glassworks for Iittala and Screen 100. As it happens, his surname "Aalto" translates from Finnish as "wave".

Armchair 42 goes under two nicknames - "little Paimio" owing to its original creation for Paimio Sanatorium in 1932, and the "spring chair", deriving from the thin but solid timber birch frame that provides a flexible comfort.

The Rocket Bar Stool, designed in 1995, combines Eero Aarnio's playful style and the natural materials that are synonymous with Artek.

Like the Aaltos, Eero Aarnio has designed furniture that merges creative expression with function. In his own words "A chair is a chair, is a chair, is a chair... but a seat does not necessarily have to be a chair. It can be anything, as long as it is ergonomically correct." 

Protecting Finnish forests is a top priority for Artek, and the company remains firmly committed to improving its sourcing and manufacturing processes. The Forest Collection is one such result, featuring a wood selection that uses more of each tree to minimise waste and celebrate the natural imperfections found in Finnish birchwood.

Formafantasma are working with Artek on a long-term research project that explores how the management of Finnish forests should inform Artek’s future environmental agenda. The Forest Collection is one outcome, ensuring that more of each tree is used to reduce wood waste.

The Kaari collection, designed in 2015, marked the start of an enduring relationship between Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec and Artek. The collection is centred around an elegant bent steel band that is repeated across many applications. This systematic thinking descends from Alvar Aalto's use of his “L-leg” in many Artek furniture products.

For twenty years, brothers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec worked together to establish themselves as one of the most exciting design teams around. Since setting up their separate studios in early 2024, their adventures in merging versatility and the poetic continue down new and exciting avenues.

Catalan ceramicist Xavier Mañosa is the designer and maker of the Tiili Collection. The extrusion process used to make the products echoes Artek's modernist heritage of synthesising art and technology. 

Pendant light JL341, designed by architect and designer Juha Leiviskä, emitts a delicate and warm light from behind its aluminium shell. 

Juha Leiviskä was an architect and designer. Light, both natural and artifical, played an integral role in the many buildings he designed in Finland and beyond.

Artek textile patterns, such as the Siena print, are a continuation of Aino and Alvar Aalto's interest in small design elements. The fabrics can be applied to lend some Artek styling to your own accessories and soft furnishings. 

Alvar Aalto designed Pendant Light A3330S "Golden Bell" to illuminate the tables in Restaurant Savoy, the Helsinki culinary destination that he and his wife Aino designed in 1937. The pendant light continues to resonate in homes and public spaces today.

Inka Bell is a Finnish contemporary artist who has created the artwork that features in the Artek 90th Anniversary commemorative poster. The poster draws influence from Screen 100.

Elissa Aalto was Alvar Aalto's second wife, following the early death of Aino Aalto in 1949. Elissa ran the Aalto architectural studio following Alvar's death in 1976, and contributed to many interiors including Maison Louis Carré.

Rope Chair was designed by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec in 2020. It uses a single piece of marine rope for its frame, which serves as both the silhouette and a support that encourages dynamic movement and changes in position.

Alvar Aalto designed the National Pensions Institute in Helsinki, which was completed in 1955. Among numerous items that were designed for this space was Floor Light A808.

The Kiki collection, designed by Ilmari Tapiovaara, is based on a metal tube with an oval cross section. It was awarded the gold medal at the Milan Triennale in 1960.

The Domus Chair was designed by Ilmari Tapiovaara for the Domus Academica student housing complex in Helsinki in 1946. It has gone on to international acclaim, becoming known around the world as "The Finn Chair".

The Lukki chair was designed by Ilmari Tapiovaara for the student dormitories at the Helsinki University of Technology. Its slender tubular steel frame fits the name: "lukki" means "daddy long legs" in Finnish.

Many of Ilmari Tapiovaara's furniture designs for public buildings in Finland have become enduring classics. One of his most celebrated pieces, the Domus Chair, was originally designed for student dormitories in Helsinki, with the building's architecture serving as the starting point.

Chair 66 features many of the hallmarks of Aalto design, such as the bent birchwood L-legs and a lightweight yet durable construction that makes it the perfect chair for any number of settings.

The X-leg marked another step in the evolution of Alvar Aalto's bentwood birch L-leg. Its elegant, fan-shaped construction was introduced in a collection exhibited at Stockholm department store Nordiska Kompaniet in 1954.

Nils-Gustav Hahl was a co-founder and the first Managing Director of Artek. He was pivotal in bringing international art movements to Finland before his untimely death in the Finnish Continuation War of 1941.

The Artek Manifest laid out how the founders intended "to sell furniture and to promote a modern culture of living by exhibitions and other educational means". A plan was hatched to export Finnish design to the world, and bring international cultural movements to Finland.

Konstantin Grcic is one of the leading contemporary furniture designers, known for his deep engagement with materials and rigorous research into architecture and design. His 2014 Rival Chair for Artek reinterprets the modern wooden chair through an innovative, forward-thinking approach.

Aalto tables merge natural beauty and versatility in a way that is synonymous with Artek. They come in many sizes and combinations, acting as the perfect match for all sorts of kitchens, living rooms and work spaces.

Pendant Light A331 "Beehive" began life in the staff dining room at the University of Jyväskylä, in 1953. As with many Artek pendant lights, it has a sculptural presence whether switched off or on.