This seemingly simple stool, an object in MoMA's collection, features what Alvar Aalto deemed his most important contribution to furniture design: the L-shaped leg. The Aalto Stool 60's design provides a smooth visual transition from leg to top and is structurally sound. In addition to being featured in MoMA's collection, this stool was displayed in Alvar Aalto: Between Humanism and Materialism, a career retrospective mounted by the Museum's Department of Architecture and Design in 1998. Made of birch, his preferred material, the signature bentwood leg attaches simply to the bottom of the seat. Made by Artek, a manufacturer with work in MoMA's collection. Ships flat; simple assembly is required. Black version is made from linoleum. White version is made from high pressure laminate (HPL).
This 90th anniversary edition of the iconic Stool 60 by Alvar Aalto, the Kontrasti, is a study in contrasts. The stool’s L-shaped leg is made from solid wood and inserted thermo-treated veneer sheets, making the special technique visible contrasting elements. For the seat top, cut-offs from leg production are used, creating a solid wood puzzle, enhanced with more veneer sheets.
Many of Aalto's earliest furniture designs were for a tuberculosis sanitarium in Paimio, Finland, and are thus based on strict criteria: comfort, warmth, and easy maintenance and storage. Birch was his material of choice because of its abundance in Finland and his belief that patients should never touch a cold surface.
