Stool 60 – simple and stackable. Designed by Alvar Aalto in 1933 and now to celebrate its 80th Anniversary Stool 60 is now available in new colours. The colours of the Stool 60 Anniversary Edition are taken directly from Aalto’s Paimio Sanatorium. The yellow of the floors, the green of the walls, the turquoise of the handrails and walls, and the orange, white and black of the furniture. The Paimio Sanatorium is considered to be the most important functionalist building by Aalto.

A legendary story started 80 years ago when Alvar Aalto tested the sturdiness of his three-legged stool by repeatedly throwing the prototype to the floor at the Korhonen furniture factory. He shouted excitedly: “We’ll make thousands of these one day!” He could not have known that he was holding the object of which Artek would sell millions of copies. The 1930s marked a breakthrough for Alvar Aalto both as an architect and a designer. The simple, stackable and durable wooden stool represented a new approach to furniture design, and a continuation of the brand of modernism initiated by Bauhaus. The use of wood instead of bent steel was revolutionary at the time. Aalto spent years developing the L-shaped leg at the Korhonen furniture factory. The development of Stool 60 alone took several years. The result of their collaboration is a durable and modern technical solution that later on led to the creation of many other classic designs. Stool 60 represents a crystallization of the values of Artek concerning the importance of technology, art and ethics.

See more from the Anniversary Edition of Stool 60 at The Lollipop Shoppe