1933 Alvar Aalto 402 Armchairs

Alvar Aalto, pair of 402 armchairs, 1933

The 402 armchair forms part of a series of landmark furniture designs by Alvar Aalto. The cantilevered armchairs are arguably Aalto’s most important and influential designs. The design relies on the structural, continuous cantilever supports that marry leg with arm whist supporting the seat and sitter. The laminated birch wood structure provided the basis for a group of revolutionary furniture designs that offered a softer, warmer form of modernism to that borne in the Bauhaus, where tubular ad flat-bar steel was used.

The 402 armchair offers higher comfort levels with an upholstered, sprung seat, in contrast to the all-plywood designs from the same series. Whilst the design was considered avant-garde, the chairs were positively acknowledged when launched in 1933. The UK was a key marketplace for Aalto’s furniture designs, following a well received exhibition at Fortnum and Mason in 1933.

An original pair of chairs is rare. The chairs offered bear Finmar importer labels and are considered pre-war examples. There are impressed marks beneath the runners. Reupholstered in Gabriel Savak.

Dimensions:
72w x 62d x 76cmh