From Nao Tamura:
"Rings-
Contained within a single tree is its unabridged chronicle. Year by year, never skipping a beat, it records its history slowly. Some lines speak of seasons of plenty, while others cry of famine. The size of the rings are never the same. Each engraving bears witness to battles waged in the name of survival. To observe such is to humble ourselves to nature's love of life."
"This celebration was created by layering upon the chair's beautiful geometric shape, a complex and organic graphic of life. My hope is that the Artek 'Stool 60' will evoke the bounty of nature as seen by the passage of 80 years of time."
Rings will be part of the 2012 Design Trust for Public Spaces event which supports public spaces in New York City. Finnish design company Artek turned 77 years old, and one of the iconic Artek products, which achitect Alvar Aalto designed even before forming Artek, the “Stool 60″ turns 80 years in 2013. To celebrate this mark in time, designer Nao Tamura created this special version of the Stool 60 to be auctioned at the Design Trust’s 2012 Art+Design Benefit Auction on November 7th at Ralph Pucci International in New York City. The stackable stool 60 was created in 1933 by Alvar Aalto represents the quintessence of functionalist furniture design. The simple idea behind this classic stool is based on three bent legs and a round seat. Nao Tamura gave this classic stool a new old look – old meaning that the seat portion looks like a cut tree with the year rings showing representing the 80 years since the designing of the stool. This celebration was created by layering upon the chair’s beautiful geometric shape, a complex and organic graphic of life. "My hope is that the Artek Stool 60 will evoke the bounty of nature as seen by the passage of 80 years of time", says Nao.
Artek – Finnish Design Supremacy
Artek was founded in 1935 by four young idealists, Alvar and Aino Aalto, Maire Gullichsen and Nils-Gustav Hahl. The business idea of the company was “to sell furniture and to promote a modern culture of habitation by exhibitions and other educational means.” The founders of Artek advocated a new kind of environment for everyday life. They believed in a grand synthesis of the arts and wanted to make a difference in town planning as well as architecture and design. The core of the Artek product range consists of Alvar Aalto’s furniture and lighting pieces. Today Artek is looking to extend the range and for example acquired the rights to Ilmari Tapiovaara’s furniture collection. Artek also continues to work in close collaboration with prominent international architects, designers and artists, such as Eero Aarnio, Shigeru Ban, Naoto Fukasawa, Harri Koskinen, Juha Leiviskä, Enzo Mari and Tobias Rehberger, many more will follow. The Stool 60 turns 80 in 2013. To celebrate this, Artek has produced a beautiful series of anniversary edition. The anniversary colours are borrowed directly from Aalto’s Paimio Sanatorium: the yellow of the floors, the green of the walls, and the orange, white and black of the furniture. The stool designed by Alvar Aalto 1933 is one of the icons of furniture design. Aalto’s three leg stool was a sensation in the design world of his time. The stool’s L-leg was revolutionary for its technical realization and it represented a mark for all modern Scandinavian design. To bend the leg of Aalto’s stool, the same technique is still in use: a piece of straight, solid birch was sawn open at the end in the direction of the fibres, forming the shape of a fan. Thin pieces of plywood were then glued into the grooves. This structure makes it possible to bend the wood by heating or steaming the desired corner/angle and when dry, it will have a very strong texture which easily can be joined to the seat of the stool. The Aalto stool is still today a special product and with its simple shape will always be modern.
We wish you a very Happy Birthday!
