Alvar & Aino Aalto

The roots of Iittala date back to 1881 when a glass factory was established in a village of the same name in southern Finland. In its early years Iittala produced blown, pressed, polished, painted and etched glass according to continental models.

Aalto is particularly well known and influential for his work in furniture. He worked with steam bent plywood to create designs which others had not considered. These designs inspired other groundbreaking 20th century designers like Charles and Ray Eames.

Aalto’s work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings, though he never regarded himself as an artist, seeing painting and sculpture as "branches of the tree whose trunk is architecture.