In the late 1920s, the great Finnish architect Alvar Aalto began to experiment with bending wood and collaborated with the furniture manufacturer Otto Korhonen on a number of innovative techniques. The development of an L-shaped leg composed of solid bent wood – the “L-leg” – assumed a central role. Aalto referred to it as “the little sister of the architectural column”, as the L-leg takes on a similar weight-bearing function: various horizontal surfaces can be directly affixed to and supported by these vertical elements.
Manufactured in four sizes, the L-leg enabled the creation of more than 50 different products, from stools, chairs, benches and tables to storage furniture. With the L-leg, which was patented in 1933, Aalto invented a highly versatile system of standard components, which still forms the base of the Artek collection today.
Made from Finnish birch, the products boast a natural beauty and radiate warmth; they are sustainable and age gracefully.
Today, Artek’s collection comprises 36 products based on the L-leg. Aalto’s furniture designs project a sense of relaxed familiarity. They cannot be assigned to a distinct social identity or functional category. This makes them equally at home in public buildings, cultural institutions and educational facilities as well as in private homes.
Artek products continue to be fabricated semi-industrially according to strict quality criteria with a high proportion of handcraftsmanship. The L-leg collection is still produced at the original Artek factory in Turku, Finland, the process of their production relatively unchanged, their organic qualities as ideologically and aesthetically relevant as ever.
Dimensions H68 x W35 x D40 cm – Seat height 45.5 cm
68% new wool, 26% cotton, 6% nylon – 19 available colours – 100.000 Martindale (durability)
100% natural aniline leather
price group 5
Prestige is a beautiful, strong and supple leather. It is extremely soft to touch, with a slight shine on the pebbles. The leather is full grain, which means that its natural surface structure has been preserved and all natural markings are visible. Natural markings are the hallmarks of the animal’s active life and give the piece of furniture a unique sense of character.
Despite its upscale appearance, Prestige has an incredible appealing practical side, as well. The protective surface finish makes it extremely durable and entirely smudge-proof. Moreover, it is extremely comfortable.
The H55 pattern has been designed in 1955 by Elissa Aalto, second wife of Alvar Aalto.
For Aino and Alvar Aalto, fabrics were an integral element of domestic life and played a crucial role in Artek's design philosophy from its earliest days to the present. Aino Aalto originally discovered the classic Zebra fabric during her European travels and incorporated it in Artek interiors as early as the 1930s.
Characterized by a soft, sensual feel and striking visual depth, the Zebra fabric brings a touch of the wild to any interior. Today the wool and cotton based Zebra fabric is manufactured in Germany, woven exclusively for Artek.
price group 4
price group 3
price group 2
price group 1
94% new wool, 6% nylon – 31 available colours – 100.000 Martindale (durability)
100% wool – 35 available colours – 45.000 Martindale (durability)
90% wool / 10% helanca – 47 available colours – 100.000 Martindale (durability)
58% wool / 25% viscose / other – 24 available colours – 50.000 Martindale (durability)
90% wool / 10% nylon – 50 available colours – 100.000 Martindale (durability)
92% wool / 8% nylon – 49 available colours – 100.000 Martindale (durability)
70% wool / 30% viscose – 58 available colours – 100.000 Martindale (durability)
Elegance is an exquisite type of leather of the finest quality European oxhide. It has an exclusive and natural look and is soft and pleasant to the touch. Elegance is aniline leather and is chrome tanned but then subsequently vegetable tanned, which gives the leather greater firmness. This type of leather has a natural and raw surface, allowing the leather to breathe and offers excellent sitting comfort as well as a feeling of exclusivity.
The leather is full grain, which means that its natural surface structure has been preserved and all natural markings are visible. Natural markings are the hallmarks of the animal’s active life and give the piece of furniture a unique sense of character. Elegance leather varies in colour from hide to hide and acquires a beautiful, lighter patina with use and exposure to sunlight.
> Sörensen Elegance leather
100% pigmented and protected leather
> Sörensen Prestige leather
60% wool, 40% cotton
> H55 fabric (Artek fabric)
56% wool, 39% cotton, 5% polyamide
> Zebra fabric
Click on View to select your option with felt glides .
Click on View to select your option with felt glides .
chair 65 with upholstered seat
Legs, backrest & seat white or black lacquered birch
chair 65 with un-upholstered seat
Legs and backrest natural lacquered birch
Seat natural lacquered birch, white HPL laminate or black linoleum
> see also
