Artek 2nd Cycle celebrates Stool 60’s 90th Anniversary with the “Decades” exhibition
August 24, 2023 By Naomi Moriyama
Photo: Ko Tsuchiya / Artek
Today’s business discussion would not be complete unless it included sustainability, but was it so 90 years ago?
Three bent wooden legs, one flat circular seat and nine nails. Stool 60 (1933) is a minimalist, functionalist, original sustainable invention that has endured in longevity and durability.
Alvar Aalto, the leading Finnish architect and designer, envisioned the 3-legged stool, and collaborated with Otto Korhonen, a carpenter and factory owner in Turku, for engineering of the bending of solid wood.
Photo: Welin / Artek
According to Objects and Furniture Design Alvar Aalto, the L-shaped leg was Aalto’s first attempt at achieving the organic transition of the supporting element to the supported horizontal plane.
“Otto Korhonen and Aalto were very much inspired both by the Bauhaus Movement and standardization tradition which were happening all over Europe, but at the same time, they took a lot of inspiration from Michael Thonet, an Austrian-German furniture maker and designer, who knew how to bend solid beech in a beautiful fashion,” said Antti Tevajärvi of the Helsinki Artek 2nd Cycle, the platform for vintage Artek furniture, during a presentation given at Alvar Aalto Foundation’s 5th Alvar Aalto Researchers’ Network Seminar 2023 “Whose Modernism” in June 2023.
Initially there were six slits in the legs to allow a bend in the solid wood, later only four slits, and in mid 1960s another slit was required and five slits were incorporated to take the pressure of the new machine-operated bending press, which is still the case today.
Photo: Mauno Mannelin / Aalto Collection / Alvar Aalto Museum
Aalto achieved his goal of developing the mass production of furniture with Stool 60’s standardization mechanism.
The “Wood Only” exhibition of furniture by Aino and Alvar Aalto and other Finnish designers at Fortum & Mason, London in 1933, created an international demand for the stool, especially from England and elsewhere in Europe, followed by the US market a bit later.
This standardized practical design has allowed subtle yet diverse customizations and changes that have contributed to its endurance over the years. Stool 60 is ubiquitous and unique all at once.
Visitors to the Decades exhibition, which has been designed by Lauri Johansson, can witness Stool 60’s historical evolution, diverse variations, and personalization that happened throughout the years with 160 different stools. Satellite exhibitions are also being held in Japan and Korea.
Photo: Naomi Moriyama
The exhibition showcases a rare stool with so-called “Sandwich” seat, for which a piece of fabric is tucked into horizontal layers of a birch seat from the 1930s.
Photo: Janne Westerlund / Artek
During the 1940s, due to the acute material shortage after the Second World War, legs were devised with so-called finger-joint construction.
Photo: Naomi Moriyama
“The production line in Finland kept on going as well as it could, at the same time, in 1946, the Hedemora factory was established in Sweden to respond to a huge demand from the U.S. market,” explained Tevajärvi.
Color variations developed early on. On display at Decades is a variation with orange lacquered seat from the 1930s.
Photo: Naomi Moriyama
The linoleum color chart became extensive in the 1950s and 60s, for example, red, yellow, and different shades of blue, brown and green.
Photo: Naomi Moriyama
Many Stool 60s have been hand-painted by owners, and the exhibition includes a variety of examples. Tevajärvi said, “we think that in very patinated scruffiness, there are layers of beauty pained by hand in different colors. We believe it is OK to have these pieces as they are, rather than completely restoring them back to the original forms.”
By the 1970s, the Aaltos had become so prominent, and some designers of the new generation rebelled against “the establishment” by adding graffiti to a stool.
Photo: Naomi Moriyama
Artek 2nd Cycle also had a chip system at one point. A chip attached to a particular piece of furniture contained a history of ownership and everything the 2nd Cycle team could unearth about it.
Photo: Naomi Moriyama
In the 2010s, creativity flourished, and Stool 60 acted as a canvas for artistic pieces and collaborations, including a silkscreen print by artist Barbara Kruger, Supreme, COMME des GARÇONS.
Photo: Naomi Moriyama
Photo: Naomi Moriyama
Photo: Naomi Moriyama
In Japan, Artek Tokyo collaborated with Paris-based Japanese architect Tsuyoshi Tane, and created “Stool 60 Sleeping Beauty,” the 90th Anniversary limited edition. Tane buried raw birch sections from Finland in soils collected from different sites in Japan. He achieved, after numerous experiments, three different hues, yellow, black and white, as wood’s fiber absorbed the unique minerals and compounds of the soils. These limited editions are available at Artek Tokyo only.
Photo: Ko Tsuchiya / Artek
Artek 2nd Cycle initially began with the purpose of heritage preservation by buying back Aalto furniture pieces from individual owners directly or at flea markets. Over time, it has developed into a tool to build awareness for conscious consumption. “You don’t have to always buy something new. But when you do, it is a good investment to buy a new Artek piece,” said Tevajärvi. And he continued, “It is a wise idea to keep vintage in the family (instead of selling it to vintage shops like Artek 2nd Cycle).”
With the standardization mechanism coupled with the humane, practical and versatile design perfected 90 years ago, Stool 60 has become one of the most enduring, ubiquitous pieces of furniture. I believe it would be safe to say that it will be around for more decades to come.
The majority of the Stool 60s featured in the Decades exhibition will be available for purchase from the Artek 2nd Cycle store in Helsinki.
INFORMATION
https://www.artek.fi/en/company/artek-2nd-cycle
https://webstorejapan.artek.fi/
Decades: An Exhibition by Artek 2nd Cycle to Celebrate 90 Years of Stool 60
Artek 2nd Cycle
Pieni Roobertinkatu 4-6, 00130 Helsinki, Finland
Until September 15, 2023 Opening Hours: 11:00 – 18:00 (Thu – Fri)
Satellite Exhibitions in Japan
Aug 25 – Sept 10, 2023
Venue : ARIA KYOTO https://aria-kyoto.jp/
Address: 〒606-8277 京都府京都市左京区北白川堂ノ前町46−２
46-2, Kitashirakawa donomaecho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto 606-8277
Open Thursday-Tuesday 12:00-19:00
Closed Wednesdays, and 2nd & 4th Thursdays
Sept 14 – Oct 1, 2023
Venue : Kinaru LABO https://aria-kyoto.jp/
Address: 〒320-0041 栃木県宇都宮市松原2-5-21木材会館1F 1F
2-5-21, Matsubara, Utsunomiya-shi, Tochigi 320-0041
Open Friday-Tuesday 13:00-17:00
Closed Wednesdays and Thursdays