Design Classic: Alvar Aalto’s Artek Stools

The Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto started a quiet revolution of sorts in the early 1930s, when he paired solid craftsmanship with the efficiency of mass production to create an enduring design classic, the Artek Stool 60. The stackable, three-legged stool has been in continuous production since its introduction, though Artek relaunched it in a new edition in 2013 to celebrate the stool’s 80th birthday.

The enduring appeal of the Stool 60—and other variations on the type, such as the High Stool 64—testify to its durability and quality, and to the clean formal language of its design. It remains a modern staple, one that pops up with clockwork regularity in the pages of Dwell. Click through the slideshow to see these Artek stools in their natural setting: at home in the modern world.