Artek Aslak Chair
ASLAK CHAIR
ASLAK CHAIR
Designed BY Ilmari Tapiovaara
The beechwood Aslak Chair is as elegant as it is versatile.
Stackable, lightweight, and eminently inviting, it fits equally well in restaurants, meeting rooms, or homes.
Its short rounded armrests allow it to be pulled up easily to desks and dining tables, while its curved seat and backrest allow for hours of comfortable sitting. Sketched as early as 1946 by Ilmari Tapiovaara, it wasn’t manufactured until 1958, when technical advances made mass production possible.
A pioneer of modern Finnish design, Tapiovaara sought to combine plasticity with economical use of materials – an aspiration the Aslak Chair perfectly achieves.
DESIGNER
ILMARI TAPIOVAARA
Capturing the essence of Finnish identity
Ilmari Tapiovaara (1914-1999) was one of the greatest interior architects and designers of his era.
It is often said that he captured the essence of Finnish identity, creating dozens of iconic objects that remain popular to this day.
Tapiovaara graduated from the Department of Furniture Design at the Central School of Applied Arts in Helsinki in 1937.
After completing his studies, he worked as an assistant at Le Corbusier’s office in Paris before becoming artistic director and designer at Asko Oy, then one of Finland’s largest furniture manufacturers.
Throughout his long career, Tapiovaara refused to stay within the bounds of traditional furniture design. With interests as wide-ranging as his talents, he created everything from wooden sculptures to film posters and graphics, from sauna stoves to cutlery – even a portable grill.
With the mind of an explorer and the soul of a craftsman, he was always looking for new solutions to improve everyday objects. As perseverant as he was inquisitive, Tapiovaara was committed to a process of improvement through iteration.
In that spirit, he joined the United Nations as a design ambassador in 1958 and spent two decades working with the organization on development projects around the world.
Sometimes, he would come back to the same object year after year – the universal chair, for example – on a quest to discover its most perfect form.
This made sense for someone who saw modernity not just as an approach to design but as a mission for democratic equality. Always interested in the greater issue of design’s role in society, Tapiovaara remained an influential public figure and spokesperson for his profession for many decades.
INFORMATION
BRAND
Artek
PRODUCT TYPE
Chair
COLLECTION
Aslak
PRODUCTION
Made in Italy
FRAME AND LEGS
- Solid Beech
- Form Pressed Beech Plywood
COLORS
Aslak Chair is available in several colour versions.
FEATURES
Combining plasticity with economical use of materials
MANUFACTURED
Year : 1958
SEAT AND BACK
Formed Beech Plywood
STACKABLE
Stackable Up To Four Chairs
DOWNLOAD
↓ Aslak Chair_3D_dwg
DIMENSIONS
- Height : 46 X 76 cm (18" x 30")
- Length : 53 cm (21")
- Width : 50 cm (19¾")
