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Paimio Armchair
This chair was originally imagined for a sanitarium that Aalto was commissioned to design. Created to help tuberculosis patients breathe more easily while sitting, Finnish architect Alvar Aalto introduced the Paimio Chair in 1932.
DESIGNER | Alvar Aalto, 1930
Paimio Chair
H 31.5″
W 25″
D 23.5″
This chair was originally imagined for a sanitarium that Aalto was commissioned to design. Created to help tuberculosis patients breathe more easily while sitting, Finnish architect Alvar Aalto introduced the Paimio Chair in 1932.
Influenced by Marcel Breuer’s Wassily Chair, Aalto created this chair to have an organic, natural design, which he achieved by bending a single piece of laminated natural birch plywood for the seat and back that hung between a bentwood frame of solid birch.
He succeeded with the organic structure of this functional, comfortable chair which is also economical to produce in large scale. Still in use in modern spaces, Aalto’s designs made an influential mark in the history of design. Aalto’s Paimio chair has been an inspiration for many designers including Charles and Ray Eames and Eero Saarinen.
Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto
Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (1898-1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work included architecture, furniture, textiles, and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings, though he never regarded himself as an artist, seeing painting and sculpture as “branches of the tree whose trunk is architecture. In 1923, he established an architectural firm and a year later married Aino Marsio, who worked with him on most of his designs. Her influence may have led him to more modern styles, but Aalto’s work was always based on a natural and functional approach.
Paimio Chair | c.1930
Manufacturer
Original: Huonekalu-Ja Rakennustyotehdas | Finland
Current: Artek | Finland
Build
Dimensions: 25″W x 23.5″D x 31.5″H
Material: bent plywood