Snapshot: Alvar Aalto, Phaidon 438

Alvar Aalto

“Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (February 3, 1898 — May 11, 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer, sometimes called the “Father of Modernism” in the Scandinavian countries. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware.” ~ Wikipedia 

In Phaidon, Aalto is recognized for his contribution to furniture design with his creation of the L-shaped fan leg, as well as the simple L-shaped leg and a Y-leg. The L-shaped fan leg’s primary benefit over other forms “is aesthetic, providing a much smoother and more sophisticated visual transition between leg and top – so much so that they appear to fuse in an almost organic fashion, somewhat reminiscent of Gothic fan vaulting” (Phaidon 438).

According to Phaidon the fan-leg Stool X601 was first created in 1954 for an exhibition in Stockholm, but you can see variations of the design and progressions of it in many modern furniture stores today. 

Stool X601, 1954

Thomas Bentzen Plus Stool

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