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.

Gems from the Archive

Gems from the Archive

Artek celebrates its 90th anniversary by reintroducing some gems from its archive — furniture pieces which are celebratory in both form and function.

How Villa Mairea came to embody the Artek Interior

How Villa Mairea came to embody the Artek Interior

Finished in 1939, Aino and Alvar Aalto’s modernist masterpiece became a symbol of Artek’s ongoing quest to merge function with artistic expression in the home.

The Evolving Elegance of Restaurant Savoy

A space for showing and a home for living

A space for showing and a home for living

When used thoughtfully, natural and warm materials create welcoming spaces to be equally enjoyed privately and with guests. Maison Louis Carré, completed in 1959, perfectly embodies this duality.

Kori Collection: a skilful interplay of direct and indirect light

Archive

43 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 …

Atelier Chairs for a good cause

Founded in 1991, La Source is a French organization supporting the social development and integration of underprivileged …

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 …

Ecological Shifts, Artek and Formafantasma

Thinking about ‘Cambio’ – Formafantasma’s exhibition-cum-manifesto on timber industry governance – I’m reminded of the A …

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 …

Crafted Through Time - furniture for multi-layered living spaces

Creating interiors that merge function with artistic expression has been central to Artek’s ideology since 1935. Ever si …

Forest Collection – celebrating natural variations in wood

The Forest Collection introduces a new "wild birch" wood selection developed by Artek and design studio Formafantasma. C …

Designed in Finland. Made for the world.

2025 is a year of celebration at Artek. It marks 90 years since four visionary young founders set out to create a new ki …

When the Moomins appeared at Villa Mairea

In 1946, Tove Jansson left Villa Mairea after a visit to her friends Maire and Harry Gullichsen at their home in western …

On Screens and Surfaces

After apologising to Inka Bell for the early hour, I pause to admire the impressive array of prints on the wall of her s …

Finding strength in fragility

Xavier Mañosa, the designer and maker of Tiili Collection for Artek, has been extruding clay since he was 12 years old, …

Where printmaking meets wood bending

“I will always be proud of you here in Finland and also in the outside world.” These heartfelt words were written by Mar …

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