Artek Essentials for the Conscious Consumer

Good #design connotes authenticity, longevity, and sustainable manufacture, making #artek products today more relevant than ever. For over 80 years, the Finnish company has been sourcing materials and manufacturing products responsibly, using natural and renewable materials to create timeless designs that are built to last. The #artek Essentials are a core selection of these designs, functional products that bring 
beauty and joy to everyday life. Ranging from stools, chairs, and benches to tables and lighting, they exude an iconic appeal that never goes out of style. Aging beautifully through everyday use, #artek Essentials are often passed on from one generation to the next.

Lighting Collection
Sculptural in presence and atmospheric in light, the #artek lighting collection consists of pendant, floor, and wall lights designed by Alvar and #ainoaalto and Finnish architect #juhaleiviska. Striking to look at turned on or turned off, they yield an interplay of direct, indirect, and diffuse light, bringing warmth and comfort anywhere they’re placed. Many of the essential #artek pendant lights were designed by #alvaraalto for
architectural projects, including the classic A330S “Golden Bell,” created for Helsinki’s Restaurant Savoy, and the A338 “Bilberry,” designed to highlight art at Maison #louiscarre near Paris. Along with the other fixtures in the collection, these beloved classics have been enriching public and private spaces around the world since their original creation. 

L-leg Collection
In 1933, #alvaraalto was granted a patent for an L-shaped leg composed of solid bent wood, which he referred to as “the little sister of the architectural column.” The 33 products based on the L-leg include tables, benches, chairs, and stools, comprising a highly versatile system of standard components that still forms the basis of the #artek collection today. They are true #design classics, as popular today as they were when first built. Made in #Finland from #finnishbirch, they boast a natural #beauty that radiates warmth. Built sustainably and designed to age gracefully, they are as ecologically and aesthetically relevant as ever.

Celebrating the L-leg: Stool 60 wins German Sustainabilitsy Award for Design
The best known of the L-leg products is a three-legged stool. Since its introduction in 1933, several million units of Stool 60 and its four-legged counterpart Stool E60 have been sold, making it one of the most cherished products in the history of #design. In December 2020, Stool 60 was awarded the first German Sustainability Award for #design in the Icons category. “It’s not just the long life expectancy that makes the stool so sustainable,” the jury explained in granting the award. “Both the classic and the E60 – its fourlegged counterpart – are produced in #Finland from regional wood in a responsible manner. Additionally, the manufacturer itself offers secondhand products through its “Artek 2nd Cycle” platform and encourages conscious consumption with slogans like ‘Buy now keep forever.’”The German Sustainability Award is a prestigious award for excellence in sustainability. The new #design Award is based on the goals of the UN's Agenda 2030 for sustainable development and is intended to provide orientation at a time when the demand for sustainable #design is higher than ever. Read more at nachhaltigkeitspreis.de/design/sieger/.

Domus Chair
A masterpiece of modern furniture #design, the Domus Chair was created in 1946 by #ilmaritapiovaara as part of a series of furniture for the Domus Academica student housing complex in Helsinki. A truly universal wooden chair, Domus is comfortable enough to allow sitting for long periods of time and features short armrests that make it possible to pull up close to a table. Known internationally as “The Finn Chair,” it has achieved global success, placed in homes and public spaces all over the world.

What do the #artek Essentials offer today’s conscious consumers, who care deeply about the way their purchasing decisions will affect the planet and their lives? 

• Timeless content inside
Artek stands for clarity, functionality, and poetic simplicity. Impervious to fashion, #artek products maintain their appeal over decades. Current but never stylish, they are conceived to last physically, functionally, and aesthetically — offering unparalleled longevity over generations.

• Made in #Finland with Finnish birch
Since the 1920s, the majority of #artek products have been manufactured in #Finland from birch wood grown, felled, and seasoned locally. At the a-factory in Turku, modern production methods meet expert handcraftsmanship, balancing the best of human and machine to produce furniture to the highest standards.

• Buy now keep forever
Confidently standing the test of time for more than 80 years, #artek classics can be easily maintained, repaired, and repurposed by the user. Components can be replaced or customised, legs cut, surfaces repainted, and webbing upholstery renewed.

• Age with grace
Thanks to a palette of natural materials, #artek products become more beautiful over time. Wood, leather and linoleum age gracefully, traces of use confer individuality and character. At #artek 2nd Cycle, the Helsinki based platform for pre-loved #design, a wide range of #artek classics is offered a second life.

• One chair is enough
Deliberately informal, Artek’s universal wooden chairs are not tied to specific functions or settings, but lend themselves as readily to dining and studying as to waiting and meeting. Compact, stackable, and transversal, they travel easily between private spheres and public spaces.

About Artek
Artek was founded in Helsinki in 1935 by four young idealists: Alvar and #ainoaalto, #mairegullichsen, and #nilsgustavhahl. Their goal was “to sell furniture and to promote a modern culture of living by exhibitions and other educational means.” In keeping with the radical spirit of its founders, #artek today remains an innovative player in the world of modern #design, developing new products at the intersection of 
design, architecture, and art. The #artek collection consists of furniture, lighting, and accessories designed by Finnish masters and leading international designers. It stands for clarity, functionality, and poetic simplicity.