Aalto  

No interest?
I guess Aalto's stuff is not of interest to the forum readers because no comments....

Dear barrympls
I would not conclude that nobody is interested in Artek and the Aalto products this fast.
Many people in the business have adopted a wait and see attidude when it comes to Artek. The reason being Tom Dixon's take-over of the Finnish icon and promoting himself to art director.
As you might know, this is no small undertaking. For years Artek has lived from and on it's Aalto past and to revive it and bring it back to former glory requires a sensitive ballance between respect for the past and vision for the future. I have no clue or idea about how the american distribution of Artek fits into this but I am quite sure that what Artek needs is a little bit of patience from people like us who love the products and the spirit in which they were designed and are made.

Cool...thanks
I didn't know that there was a problem with Artek in Finland.
All I know is that in the US, when one thinks of classic modern, one usually excludes Aalto. Probably because for years (like Cassina), they were rather difficult to obtain and they didn't promote themselves very well.
A couple of years ago, Herman Miller signed a deal to distribute selected Aalto Artek pieces, but not the whole line (most of the big items, the Zebra Chair, Paimio chair, the stools, etc.)
Most of the standard Herman Miller website e-tailers didn't show the Aalto/Artek stuff and when you went to the Herman Miller website, you didn't see that stuff, either.
Then, I learned that Herman Miller stopped the deal this year.
As you all might realize, US Mid-Century fans have the tendency to consider the US stuff to be the most important designs....
I consider Aalto's designs to be equal to Eames, Nelson, Saarinen or Bertoia.

I consider Aalto's designs ...
I consider Aalto's designs to be equal to Eames, Nelson, Saarinen or Bertoia.
I agree he was bending plywood before anyone and was a great architect of world fame,

Low prices on Savoy vases....
I found a cool website which has the Aalto Savoy vases. Many of the colors are being clearanced....check 'em out
http://www.finnstyle.com

As an aside, I saw a video on...
As an aside, I saw a video once that brifely showed how the Paimio seat was pressed, it looked like the whole ply stack was rolled between hot steel rollers, much like rolling steel sheet, it was fascinating. It also showed the factory and I don't think its a huge operation, lets hope Dixon doesn't knock on Chinas door to bring costs down!
The problem is that Aalto was never really that prolific, his early work is totally unmarketable and unlike Eames et al there isn't a huge archive of designs to be re-worked, I suppose also Artek has suffered at the hands of IKEA.
A company called Anibou sells Artek stuff here and I seem to remember that Artek gave its stamp of approval to an Australian cabinet maker to make a version of an Aalto bed, given the market for it would be so small I would presume he is just one man working on his own, I think thats a healthy approach for a big company to take.
It would be good to see manufacturers of bent ply products ship the components as beech/birch blanks and have local face veneers pressed on when they reach destintaion, perhaps this would be very expensive but even if say Herman Miller looked at using some more interesting veneers.
It would be good to see some smaller companies get together (Atrek, Isokon, some of the smaller Danish outfits)and fund a travelling exhibition, design exhibitions are getting more and more public interest...who knows? Good luck to Mr Dixon!
Isokon are doing a good job of reworking their range, taking on Michael Sodeau (?) and Barber Osgerby designs.

I don't agree
The problem is that Aalto was never really that prolific, his early work is totally unmarketable and unlike Eames et al there isn't a huge archive of designs to be re-worked, I suppose also Artek has suffered at the hands of IKEA.
----------------
I own the 400 Zebra/Tank chair and a 67 high stool with the low back and even tho they're from 1937, they're drop-dead classics....would look beautiful in any room environment.
Also, I ordered 3 Savoy vases from the afore mentioned Finnstyle.com...can't wait to get 'em.
No....good design remains good design despite what anyone might think.

I do not agree either...
...The problem is that Aalto was never really that prolific....Sorry HP Aalto has build more than most architects including stars of his time like Le Corbusier or of ours like Frank Gehry. ....his early work is totally unmarketable....It was never designed to be more than the furniture that was needed in his own buildings but he founded Artek because of demand for his products from others and unlike Eames et al there isn't a huge archive of designs to be re-worked..... I suppose also Artek has suffered at the hands of IKEA....Well let's see, Tom Dixon is art director for Habitat, Habitat is owned now by Ikea, Tom Dixon owns Artek....

I'm a terrible writer, I was...
I'm a terrible writer, I was speaking of his early furniture which much like Mies' early work is virtually unrecognisable as being Mies, hence they would never fit into the expected Aalto range, if Artek brouhgt back his nouvea-ish candelsticks they'd be wasting their effort, in my opinion. I was also speaking comparativley Aalto simply wasn't a very prolific furniture designer, it was secondary to the architecture, your'e quite right.
Whatever the maze of ownership is Artek have suffered at the hands of Ikea in the past, surely you don't dispute that?

Hi HP
As far as Ikea's role in the "banalisation" of pioneer designers and architects is concerned, I think we have exhaused that discussion. I have said this many times. Yes there are Ikea products that have been inspired by others in very much the same way as one can trace the origins of say the Le Corbusier "Grand confort" to Jozef Hoffman and Serrurier-Bouvy. But the more important point is that these are two different markets and I am quite sure that I could feed the people that had the intention of buying an Alvar Aalto and settled for an Ikea...in other words I do not think that there are very many. The opposite is probably closer to reality. That people who were introduced to functional furniture by Ikea slowly but surely got the taste and the money for the modern classics.
I think that Artek just did not know how to find it's second and third Alvar Aalto and rested on its heritage rather than continuing the tradition.

Ikea? I think not
I finally went to Ikea here in the Twin Cities and I looked around a bit.
Most of the stuff looked like craparoo, so the only thing I was excited about was their wonderful bookends....metal and plastic varieties. I bought a whole bunch of 'em and I'm happy.
But their furniture.....no no no no no....why buy from the Wal*Mart of big box furniture stores?
Consider how many discarded pieces I've seen in the trash around here since Ikea opened up, I'm not interested.
Also...Ikea put a lot of second hand furniture and antique stores out of business.....

I wonder
A few weeks ago I was trying like crazy to nab one of those IKEA bentwood stools that so closely resemble Aalto's 3 legged version.
I couldnt find one at the local ikea, and upon further searching, discovered that Ikea's across the country are out of stock of it (Frosta is its Swedish name)
I wonder if Dixon's relationship to both Artek and Ikea has prompted this. The stools are still on the website but have been out of stock for months and months.

I'm thinking from anecdotes,...
I'm thinking from anecdotes, I know of 3 cafe fitouts where they wanted artek but had to settle for IKEA, and a travel agent.
Interesting point about the stacking stools, I wonder what will be next to go? I looked at some of Dixons new metal stuff, I hope he brings some life into artek and respects the heritage at the same time, without resorting to changing colours etc (ie Fritz Hansen and Miller)

i agree with barry mpls
sorry Ikea does not do it for me maybe i am just to old for that stuff ... I took my 22 year very smart daughter and she liked the stuff . but she is 22
To me the long term quality is not there it reminded me of the best of Target. I can't see 20 years from now, that, was a Ikea original . just not that cool for me. what do you all think, I hate to say if that is the best you can afford not trying to be snobish, but i would hold on to my money and get a great piece of furniture,