Art & Technology Since 1935
Artek was founded in Helsinki in 1935 by four young idealists: Alvar and Aino Aalto, Maire Gullichsen, and Nils-Gustav Hahl. 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.
The first Artek store in Helsinki, 1936.
Founders
Alvar Aalto
Today, Alvar Aalto is still central to Artek, both in the timeless designs that form a major part of the collection and in the enduring influence of his design legacy.
Aino Aalto
The architect and designer Aino Aalto played an important part in establishing and shaping Artek. In addition to her own independent projects and the collaborations she undertook with her husband, Aalto also served as the company’s first Design Director and, from 1941, its Managing Director.
Art & Technology
The name Artek is a synthesis of ‘art’ and ‘technology’ – concepts central to the international modernist movement that came to prominence in the 1920s. It was Walter Gropius, a key proponent of modernism, who coined the motto ‘art and technology – a new unity.’ Technology was understood to include science and industrial production methods, while the conception of art extended beyond the fine arts to encompass architecture and design.
Modernism aimed to achieve a fruitful union of these two spheres. This same aspiration guided the founders of Artek in their naming of the company.
