BP # 13

Scandinavian modern art is important to design today because of its simplicity, functionality, and its low cost made it much easier to mass produce. Scandinavian design incorporates such features as: tradition, hand-crafted, curvature, modesty and purposefulness. The exhibition of decorative arts and design attempts to address both these unifying qualities and the distinct differences. Alvar Aalto really made the Scandinavian modernism scene big and focused more on creating products that showed their craft and taste instead of the client's. Initially Aalto went in search of a solution to providing affordable, comfortable furniture that could be easily mass produced. The Paimio Chair, the best-known piece designed by Aalto, uses cheap easily accessible materials (wood) and really pushes the boundaries of shaping the plywood; the chair contains a thin sheet of plywood that had been tightly bent at both the top and bottom into scroll-like shapes, giving it much more resiliency. Aalto decided to use native birch because it gave a more natural feel and developed a more organic form. The angle of the back of the Paimio Chair was specially designed to help one breathe easier.  Alvar Aalto had much influence on designers Charles and Ray Eames and also Eero Saarinen, all of whom are well-known for Scandinavian modernist furniture. In 1935, the Artek company was established, in Finland, to mass-produce and distribute all the wood furniture designed by Aalto.

The Paimio Chair