My Home Town, Paimio, Is Known For a Chair

Written by
Katja Presnal
Published on
June 21, 2007
Lifestyle

My Home Town, Paimio, Is Known For a Chair

Written by
Katja Presnal
June 21, 2007

This post was originally posted in 2007, and I wanted to keep it in the legacy collection, because I wanted to show I've always featured Finnish design, and I never forgot my roots even when I lived abroad. This was one of the first posts I posted in the Skimbaco blog. I kept the price of the chair from 2007 :)

Paimio Chair

This modern beauty is Paimio Chair, the best-known piece of furniture designed by a Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. Paimio is a town in southwestern Finland where Alvar Aalto designed a tuberculosis sanatorium and all its furnishings in 1928-1933.

Alvar Aalto Paimio Chair

Since the 30's the Paimio Sanatorium has been acclaimed internationally as a major modern architectural achievement.

It just happens to be that I am as Paimioan as a girl can be. I was born and raised in Paimio, only a few miles from Aalto's modern hospital, and my dear Mummo (grandma) actually worked in the famous sanatorium Alvar Aalto designed.

alvar aalto paimio chair in paimio hospital

Originally the Paimio Chair was used in the patients' lounge,  and the angle of the back of this armchair was intended to help sitters breathe more easily.

Today Paimio Chair can be found from the homes of modern design lovers and in numerous museums including the Museum of Modern Art. The modern design, beautiful lines combined with sitting comfort is something that rarely can be combined as well as in the Paimio Chair.

The chair is made from birch and available with black, white and natural birch colored seat. Sitting on Aalto's Paimio chair in an experience, and it will be a conversation piece as well as has the quality to be the design highlight of any space.

Paimio chair by Alvar Aalto

The white version is available at Finnstyle.com for 2,760$.  

About the author

[headshot] image of customer (for a landscaping service)
Katja Presnal

Founder of Crush Movement. An award-winning marketing strategist and digital pioneer who built her career as a global nomad, helping Fortune 100 brands and entrepreneurs grow and break sales records. A bestselling author and keynote speaker, her work has been featured in Forbes, The New York Times, and MTV3.

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