Reading Room

Welcome to the reading room. Have a seat and leaf through news, stories, interviews and anecdotes about our products, its designers and the people around the world who brought Artek into their lives.

Friendly alterations: ‘Hackability of the Stool’ by Daisuke Motogi

Friendly alterations: ‘Hackability of the Stool’ by Daisuke Motogi

Friendly alterations: ‘Hackability of the Stool’ by Daisuke Motogi

Tokyo based architect Daisuke Motogi’s research project and exhibition “Hackability of the Stool” features 100 ideas for altering Stool 60, designed by Alvar Aalto in 1933. This most elemental of furniture...

Ecological Shifts, Artek and Formafantasma

Ecological Shifts, Artek and Formafantasma

Ecological Shifts, Artek and Formafantasma

Thinking about ‘Cambio’ – Formafantasma’s exhibition-cum-manifesto on timber industry governance – I’m reminded of the Austrian American designer Herbert Bayer and his thoughts on good exhibition design....

Kori Table Light_on

Kori Collection: a skilful interplay of direct and indirect light

Atelier Chairs for a good cause

Atelier Chairs for a good cause

Atelier Chairs for a good cause

50 artistic interpretations of Stool 60 contributing to a better world.

Archive

33 items in total

Elegance Updated

"Today the new top-class Restaurant Savoy was opened in a handsome new building at the corner of the South Esplanade and …

Perfect Imperfection

Artek began its collaborative journey with Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec in 2013. After two years of development, the graph …

The Poetry of Light

Where do art and technology converge? Can industrial manufacturing produce poetic simplicity?
A new family of mirrors p …

Designing for the world

How did a humble wooden chair from Finland become an international bestseller 70 years ago?
Today, in our global and di …

So far and yet so close

Beauty for the everyday, nature and traditional crafts- qualities that connect Japan and Finland. On the occasion of Fin …

Blue Gold from BUAISOU

BUAISOU, based in Japan’s Tokushima prefecture, is a “farm-to-closet” project run by four friends with a shared passion: …

The secret world of COMPANY

The Finnish-Korean design practice COMPANY has its studio in Helsinki, but its founders dream far beyond the boundaries …

Jo Nagasaka’s ColoRing meets Artek classics

Launched on the occasion of the centennial of diplomatic relations between Finland and Japan, Jo Nagasaka’s collaboratio …

Cherry blossom returns to Japan

Aino Aalto’s Kirsikankukka textile design was inspired by a gift to the Finnish designer from Madame Ichikawa, wife of t …

Pieces of Aalto - A conversation between friends

Created to celebrate the anniversary of 100 years of Finnish-Japanese diplomatic relations, Artek’s FIN/JPN Friendship C …

Kiulu Bench - from bathhouse to sauna, and beyond

Public bathing has been central to both Japanese and Finnish culture for hundreds of years. So what better way to celebr …

Suspended Illumination - Pendant Lights AMA500 & A201

Alvar Aalto believed that the purpose of architecture is to ‘bring the material world into harmony with human life.’ To …

Chair 611: The Staying Power of a Modern Icon

Visiting a friend’s house for dinner, Kim Byman’s eye was caught by some beautiful but in-need-of-restoration chairs. Th …

Buy Now Keep Forever

Authenticity, longevity, and a sustainable use of resources are expected from good design today, making Artek products m …

Modernism Transformed

Alvar Aalto’s tuberculosis hospital in Paimio was acclaimed as the epitome of functionalism, yet unleashed a new humanis …

A fresh look for the Restaurant Savoy

With a lot of love and a bit of repair, Helsinki’s iconic Restaurant Savoy and archetypal Artek interior have been given …

The Elemental Simplicity of Rope

Few materials are as multifunctional as rope. Due to its tensile strength, its applications are endless: from hunting an …

Tung Chiang: "My favourite Aalto chair - now also Aalto’s favourite."

Easy to maintain, repair, and repurpose, Artek’s designs are made to last. Many of our friends and collaborators have li …

Felix Burrichter: "An Artek-TikTok love letter."

Easy to maintain, repair, and repurpose, Artek’s designs are made to last. Many of our friends and collaborators have li …

Nobuyuki Hamada: "I can feel the former owner's excitement."

Easy to maintain, repair, and repurpose, Artek’s designs are made to last. Many of our friends and collaborators have li …

Linda Bergroth: “My love affair with rescue chairs is still going strong.”

Easy to maintain, repair, and repurpose, Artek’s designs are made to last. Many of our friends and collaborators have li …

Something Fantastic: "To us, it's a chair in the making."

Easy to maintain, repair, and repurpose, Artek’s designs are made to last. Many of our friends and collaborators have li …

Johanna Gullichsen: "I have no intention of letting it go just yet."

Easy to maintain, repair, and repurpose, Artek’s designs are made to last. Many of our friends and collaborators have li …

The quest for a universal wooden chair

Ilmari Tapiovaara was one of the greatest interior architects and designers of his era. We talked to Pekka Korvenmaa to …

Garden as a Room

It’s early. Karoliina Hellberg has a lunchtime appointment at a printer in Lahti, an hour north of Helsinki, where her n …

A hook for all seasons

A powerful tool for all seasons and weathers, Tupla can hold a variety of items, indoor, outdoor and all year round.
Its …

Petter Eklund: “The chair began to whisper to me”

Easy to maintain, repair, and repurpose, Artek’s designs are made to last. Many of our friends and collaborators have li …

Tracing Architectural Patterns

Alvar Aalto was famously enamoured of Tuscany – its picturesque landscapes and rolling hills, its medieval cities and st …

Built to Last: The Aesthetics of Utility

At a display of the beautiful patched boro textiles of northern Japan, shown at Stockholm’s Museum of Far Eastern Antiqu …

Blending the past and present

An embodiment of thoughtful contrasts, the Rope Chair designed by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec makes a public debut in t …

Maharam Stool 60 edition

Maharam’s range of color, pattern, texture, and natural materials come to life on Aalto’s three-legged stool. As complem …

The Aaltos at Villa Mairea: A More Human Light

In the 1930s, Alvar and Aino Aalto evolved a radical new approach to architecture, one which emerged fully fledged at an …

The Compact Home Office

Today, as new approaches to work become ever more common, many of us are spending increasing amounts of time working fro …

Reading Room

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