(photos above) Alvar Aalto portrait and original design collages for the Savoy vase in cardboard and paper

For 70 years now the Iittala factory in Finland has diligently produced Alvar Aalto’s sinuous Savoy vase ^[1]. Originally part of a housewares collection that Aalto submitted to the Karhula-Iittala design competition in 1936, the vase was first presented at the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris, where the theme was “Art and Technology in Modern Life.” At the time of its conception, the vase’s graceful enigmatic form challenged the glassblowers who pioneered the making of it. Inspired by nature, Alvar Aalto simplified design elements and used a craftsman’s knowledge of the material to create design that allows for various combination’s of use. The mysterious form made a strong statement against industrial production that failed to meet human needs. Today it has become an icon of a design movement.

Alvar Aalto Vases ^[2], by Alvar Aalto, for Iittala ^[3]