A special limited edition of Stool X602 is released to celebrate 90 years of Artek, showcasing one of Alvar Aalto’s most significant late innovations in furniture, the fan-shaped “X-leg”. The stool’s hexagonal seat top has a “curly birch” veneer which is applied using a marquetry technique. Curly birch is a rare variant of Finnish silver birch in which wavy, irregular rings form a fiery pattern that enhances the stool’s rich aesthetic appeal.

The fanned X-leg was first shown in Stockholm department store Nordiska Kompaniet’s Konstruktiv Form exhibition of Artek furniture in 1954. Made from five wedge-cut pieces of L-legs, the X-leg was once described by New York’s Museum of Modern Art as “one of the most sophisticated of all (Alvar Aalto’s) designs”.

The stool is available in two models: one entirely honey-stained, and the other featuring a honey-stained seat top and natural lacquered legs, which provide a contrast that highlights the beauty of the X-leg structure. Stool X602 is brought into the Artek collection on a very limited run, with just ninety of each model available to mark the ninety years that Artek celebrates in 2025. The stools are individually numbered, making each a unique collector’s item.