Alvar Aalto

Alvar Aalto, Finnish architect, designer and academic, known as one of the most important figures in 20th century architecture. Also remembered, together with architects such as Mies van der Rohe, Gropius, Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier, as one of the greatest masters of the Modern Movement. In 1931 he moved to Helsinki and in 1933 he participated in the fourth CIAM and in the elaboration of the Charter of Athens. In 1932 he created a series of glasses with overlapping circular bands, designing a decorative chiaroscuro that helps in the grip. His furniture was exhibited in Zurich and London in 1933 and the following year he created the "Artek" company for the mass production of his furniture. From that moment begins to exhibit his most prestigious works in several countries: Italy, Switzerland, Denmark and the United States. In 1940 he invented the famous "Y" leg which was then redesigned fourteen years later as a fan leg, made up of sheets of plywood. In fact, his 1931 Paimio armchair, with curved wooden elements, and his 1936 curvilinear vase Savoy  have become major design icons that have laid the cornerstone for so-called “organic design”. More generally, he was a comprehensive designer, with a humanistic attention to man and his total environment.