Flower Vase by Alvar Aalto

While many European designers glorified the industrial revolution, their Scandinavian colleagues turned to nature. Alvar Aalto was one of the trendsetters with his organic forms, as seen in the Savoy vase, one of the trendsetters. His vase is world-famous. The same natural forms recur throughout his work: in the undulating walls of the Finnish Pavilion at the 1939 New York World’s Fair, in the architecture of the Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus, in armchairs, screen walls, and tea carts. Aalto was firmly convinced that design should be human down to the smallest detail. At Iittala ’s request, Alvar Aalto the Aalto vase in various shapes, sizes, and colors for the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris. Alvar Aalto was the son of a cartographer—perhaps the vase’s shapes are inspired by the Finnish landscape and lakes.

Design Classic: Flower Vase

The timeless Aalto vase is one of the world’s most famous glass objects; it is synonymous with Finnish glass art and the manufacturer Iittala . Today, the Aalto vase is the undisputed classic among designer vases. As a significant part of Finnish design history, the so-called Savoy vase by Alvar Aalto is part of the world’s most important design collections.