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Tag: nordic

Artek, design moderno, architettura, arte, arredamento

Artek

Artek was founded in 1935 by four young idealists Alvar Aalto and his wife Aino, with Maire Gullichsen, daughter of an important Finnish wood magnate and her husband Nils-Gustav Haha, a rich businessman and cultured collector; his name founds the 2 essential elements together according to its founders: art and technology.
The company’s business strategy is very clear from the start: “selling furniture and promoting a culture of modern life with the help of exhibitions and other educational means.” The founders hope for a new type of environment for the life of all days, firmly believing in a great synthesis of the arts and wanting to make a difference in architecture and design, as well as in urban planning.
Thanks to this sophisticated company, Alvar Aalto was able to avoid the inflation and the massification of his projects, which he considered precious as lithographs: his works had to be not too numerous, to contain the effects, and not too limited, not to enhance them in a sense too artistic. All Aalto’s works were carried out by Artek, often following actual needs, or the fact of having to furnish his architectural projects, as in the case of the Paimio armchair, created for the Sanatorium of the same name or the Viipuri stool for the library of the same name. For his projects, Aalto always starts from the construction techniques of snow skis, a product widely used in Finland, coming to exploit in addition to the folding of wood with steam, a technique already used by Thonet, also the natural humidity of Finnish birch wood .
Particularly famous are its stools, which have undergone a significant variation with the passage of time: in the 1940s the model consisted of 4 legs and a seat opposite them, joined with screws, in the 1950s instead the supports in plywood were designed to open up like a fan to form the top of the seat (or table), as happens in nature for some organic and vegetable conformations, without the aid of screws.
Alvar Aalto’s wife, Aino Marsio Aalto, has been the company’s artistic director for many years, designing herself some very elegant objects such as glasses, vases and small accessories, but also graphic fabrics and absolute colors black and white.
Today Artek is renowned for being one of the most innovative and avant-garde for modern design, with the creation of new paths between design, architecture and art. The collection includes furniture, lighting and accessories from the Nordic masters Alvar Aalto, Ilmari Tapiovaara, Tapio Wirkkala, Eero Aarnio and Yrjö Kukkapuro, but also contemporary collections such as the projects of the Bouroullec brothers.

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Artek was founded in 1935 by four young idealists: Alvar and Aino Aalto, Maire Gullichsen, and Nils-Gustav Hahl. The business strategy of the company was “to sell furniture and to promote a modern culture of living by exhibitions and other educational means. The founders  advocated a new kind of environment for everyday life. They believed in a grand synthesis of the arts and wanted to make a difference in architecture and design as well as in town planning.

Today Artek is renowned as being one of the most innovative contributors to modern design, creating new paths at the intersection of design, architecture and art. The Artek collection comprises furniture, lighting and accessories by the Nordic masters Alvar Aalto, Ilmari Tapiovaara, Tapio Wirkkala, Eero Aarnio and Yrj Kukkapuro. Artek also works with leading international architects, designers and artists, such as Shigeru Ban, Konstantin Grcic, Hella Jongerius, Harri Koskinen, Enzo Mari and Tobias Rehberger.

Artek’s collection is based on the original idea of standards and systems, initiated by Alvar Aalto’s bent wood experiments that resulted in the L-leg system. The L-leg, a solid wood leg with a laminated part bent at 90°, was patented in 1933 and quickly became a standard component of Aalto’s furniture designs. The standard and system thinking makes the furniture range versatile and allows it to be customised for individual projects. It’s furniture can be found in various types of spaces: public areas, private homes, museums, schools, restaurants, hotels and offices.

Artek’s headquarter is in Helsinki, Finland, where Artek also has a flagship store in middle of the town. International offices are located in New York, Tokyo, Stockholm and Berlin, where the international marketing team is based.

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carl hansen & son

Carl Hansen

Carl Hansen, a Danish company founded in 1908, was one of the first industrial companies to believe in the complicity between craftsmanship and mass production . Now, as ever, producing seats, sofas, bookcases and wooden tables inspired by the vintage design.
Craftsmanship can be a lot of things. To us, it is everything and it has been so ever since 1908 when Carl Hansen founded his company in Odense, Denmark.

Carl Hansen founded his company on a strong belief: outstanding craftsmanship and rational serial production could go hand-in-hand to provide customers with high-quality furniture at a reasonable price. Today, we continue to build on this simple but strong idea. We combine traditional woodworking techniques with the latest technology to produce furniture of lasting value. Most of the furniture we produce today was designed by leading Danish architects back in the 1930s and up to the 1960s, but the design, the vision and the craftsmanship behind every piece of furniture is still as relevant today as it was then. If not even more so today. This is why our dedication to working with the best materials and the best designers has and will always be fundamental to Carl Hansen & Son.

At Carl Hansen & Son, we feel a great responsibility to keep bringing this sustainable idea forward of producing furniture with a long life, made of wood harvested from sustainably managed forests and treated in a way that is as gentle as possible for the environment.
Our skilled craftsmen and -women still work with the same pride and dedication and it this passion that helps us maintain the same high quality in every piece of furniture that leaves our factory in Gelsted.

Behind every piece of furniture lies vision, careful thought and skilled craftsmanship. That’s why we say, that every piece comes with a story. And we hope you’ll enjoy making it a part of yours.

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Fritz Hansen

Fritz Hansen

Fritz Hansen was founded in 1872 by the visionary carpenter of the same name and has since become a natural part of the history of both Danish and international design and an exclusive and sought after design brand

The history of Fritz Hansen is characterized by wonderful craftsmanship, a unique design and an innate sense of high quality. Architects and furniture designers from all over the world have regularly contributed to the collection with beautifully shaped and functional furnishings, through the use of innovative techniques and new materials. Arne Jacobsen, Poul Kjærholm, Piet Hein, Vico Magistretti, Burkhard Vogtherr, Piero Lissoni, Kasper Salto and Morten Voss … the list of designers is long and the list of furniture with great international fame is even more.

Fritz Hansen’s iconic classic collection includes a large part of the most famous furniture by Danish architects and designers, including the Egg, Swan and Serie 7 chairs by Arne Jacobsen and the PK22 chair and the PK80 sofa by Poul Kjaerholm. The contemporary collection, second soul of the catalog, presents instead furnishings and accessories of some of the most stimulating and internationally recognized contemporary designers, including Jaime Hayon, Piero Lissoni, Kasper Salto and Cecilia Manz. Common to the two collections is a sculptural artistic expression that confuses the lines between design and art and combines function and form in unprecedented ways, giving each work a significant presence and purpose.

The corporate design philosophy reflects its history and inspires the creation of new, simple, sculptural, original and timeless furniture. Fritz Hansen’s design is visionary and makes the most of noble materials; every detail is carefully studied, the process is complete and impeccable and the final glance is unique and immediately recognizable. The general style is international and elegant: each piece of furniture is sophisticated in its own way, has a strong identity and the ability to discreetly illuminate any type of space.

Today as in 1872, Fritz Hansen’s work is guided by the philosophy that a single piece of furniture can beautify an entire room or building and simultaneously increase the well-being of the people who inhabit these spaces. With a strong international presence and an ever-expanding collection of iconic designs, Fritz Hansen continues his journey in creating elegant and discreet furnishing elements, which do not compromise comfort, and in strengthening his position in the global design elite , discreet luxury and contemporary living.

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