Artek - Atelier chair beech dark red lacquer
Universal wooden chair; Atelier Chair was designed for the new restaurant of the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, evoking an artist’s atelier. Commissioned by the museum as part of an initiative to foster contemporary Nordic design, Atelier Chair is compact, lightweight, and stackable. Its slender proportions and geometric lines create an arresting aesthetic. Simple and direct, the chair has elegant details, such as the connecting bars which hug the front legs. The comfortable and versatile chair is equally at home at a desk, a dining table, a meeting room, a restaurant or in an auditorium. Atelier Chair is designed by Stockholm-based studio TAF Studio.
TAF Studio
TAF is a Stockholm-based design and architecture studio founded by Gabriella Lenke and Mattias Ståhlbom. By creating products of extraordinary quality with a focus on the everyday life, TAF Studio is concerned with context and origin, using materials and construction techniques in new and innovative ways to create projects that are both playful and inspiring. Since its founding in 2002, TAF Studio has achieved international success. The studio has been exhibited at MoMA in New York and its designs are now part of the permanent collections of the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm and the Danish Design Museum in Copenhagen. Following a commission from the Nationalmuseum, TAF Studio and Artek launched their first collaboration in 2018.
Artek was founded in Helsinki in 1935 by four young idealists: Alvar and Aino Aalto, Maire Gullichsen and Nils-Gustav Hahl. Their goal was "to sell furniture and to promote a modern culture of living through exhibitions and other educational means. "In line with the radical spirit of its founders, today it remains an avant-garde character in the world of modern design, developing new products by joining design, architecture and art. The collection consists of furniture, lighting and accessories designed by Finnish masters and international designers. It stands for clarity, functionality and poetic simplicity. The name Artek is a synthesis of "art" and "technology", such as central concepts for the international modernist movement that came to prominence in the 1920s. From the beginning, the mission was to achieve a great synthesis of the arts, eroding the boundaries between fine arts, architecture and design. Artek’s manifesto outlines the vision of the four founders of the company. With titles such as Modern Art, Industry and Interior Design, Propaganda, the manifesto clarifies the company’s goals: to achieve a synthesis of the arts, to improve everyday life and to bring modernism to Finland - while spreading Alvar Aalto's Nordic interpretation of these principles to the world. Artek furniture is made in line with the original vision of Alvar Aalto to combine modern production methods with skillful craftsmanship and carefully selected materials. Regional supply and security are always priorities for both Artek and its partners, ensuring ethical production and lasting quality.
