Alvar Aalto Padded Paimio 44 Lounge Chair in Birch & Sheepskin, Artek 1950s

The Paimio Sanitarium is a central birthplace of architecture, furniture design and innovation in Finland. It is also internationally known as one of the most famous and significant Finnish buildings designed by Alvar Aalto.

This chair is considered to be a masterpiece of design. It is light in structure (weighs only 15 kilos) and was initially designed in 1929 in contrast to the heavy metal functionalist furnitures that were in fashion at that time. The Paimio Sanitarium made Alvar Aalto a world famous arcitecht, and the Sanitarium furnitures that Aalto designed were the starting point for his world fame as a furniture and lighting fixtures designer as well.

This model chair is very rarely on the market nowadays. Simply not enough of them to go around because of the high demand on Alvar Aalto armchairs.

Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) is a world famous architect and designer. He was well known for designing his own line of furniture and lighting for the numerous buildings that he designed worldwide. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles, glassware, sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, seeing painting and sculpture as branches of a tree that stem from architecture.

Aalto’s career from the 1920s-1970s is reflected in the styles of his work, ranging from Classicism to Modernism and to an organic style from the 1940s onwards. Aalto and his wife Aino were famous for not only designing the buildings, but the interior surfaces, furniture, lamps and even the glassware for those buildings. Aalto’s furniture designs are Scandinavian Modernism at its best, especially his technical innovations on the bent plywood furniture, which in turn had a great impact on Mid-Century Modernist furniture.

Aalto’s works are highly sought after and some fetch record prices in auctions and the design world. Of course his works are also widely collected and can be found in numerous private collections and famous museums.