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Interview 29.10.2021


FRANCKLY FRIENDS: PERTTI MÄNNISTÖ HAS ACCUMULATED THE WORLD’S LARGEST COLLECTION
OF TREASURES BY AINO AND ALVAR AALTO

Pertti Männistö has collected an incredibly extensive collection of lamps and
furniture designed by Aino and Alvar Aalto. The collector’s home in Kaarina,
Finland, is also decorated with Aalto furniture that exudes timeless
beauty. Timeless indeed – the newest furniture in Männistö’s Aalto collection
was made in the 1960s.


The cobalt blue tone of the fireplace has been derived from the original tiles
designed by Alvar Aalto for the City Hall of Seinäjoki. The triple pendant light
is a rare A203 model. Aalto designed it for Stora Enso’s Helsinki head office
which inaugurated in 1962.

FRANCKLY FRIENDS, dedicated to friends of pre-owned design, is a column that
visits the homes of interesting individuals and delves into stories behind their
design treasures. This time we meet Aalto collector Pertti Männistö. His home in
Kaarina, Finland, is full of rare and incredibly beautiful lamps and furniture
designed by Aino and Alvar Aalto.


In over 30 years, Pertti Männistö has collected the world’s largest collection
of Aino and Alvar Aalto’s designs.

Hi, Pertti! Over the years, you have accumulated probably the world’s most
comprehensive collection of pieces designed by Aino and Alvar Aalto. What made
you get interested in the work of Finland’s best-known designer couple, and
which item in your collection is your first find?
“I fell in love with the products designed by Aino and Alvar Aalto 30 years ago
when I came across one of the most commonplace Aalto items, a three-legged
stool, in the warehouse of an acquaintance selling old objects. I think I said
something along the lines of “Oh, so you’re also selling design,” after which my
acquaintance invited me to their home to have a look at a truly rare item. That
piece became the first item in my collection. It was a 0 chair, a prototype of
the A36 lounge chair from the 1920s–1930s.

After I had returned home with my new chair, I marched to the library and
borrowed, more or less, all books available on the designs of Aino and Alvar
Aalto. In addition to the modern design and sheer volume of the work, I was
impressed by the innovations behind the products.

At first, accumulating my collection was easy, since the availability of
products dating back to the designers’ early years was high in the Turku region.
Back when I started, I kept calling the Alvar Aalto Museum and asking for help
with dating or identifying the items. It’s funny how the tables have turned and
I can now help the museum with the same matters.”



During the early years of Artek, the products were mainly made by hand, which
makes each object in the collection unique. The birch strips create a wonderful
rhythm on the bent legs of Alvar Aalto's coffee table.

The sofa set in the livingroom was designed by Aalto for the interior of the
head office of the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. The seats still have
the original Artek’s fishtail patterned wool upholstery.

Your collection includes over 1,000 objects designed by Aino and Alvar Aalto. On
what basis have you included items in your collection?
“I’m specifically interested in products designed between the 1920s and 1960s,
since during that period, products were still mainly made by hand. At that time,
surface treatments were traditional and even in mass production, the production
technology was limited enough to give each object a unique look. My collection
focuses on an era when nothing really evolved or changed in terms of production.
That’s why the exact dating of individual chairs made in the same model is
sometimes really difficult and takes some serious detective work.

The absolute period limit I have set for my collection is mid-60s when the
Finnish furniture company Huonekalu- ja Rakennustyötehdas moved from Nummenmäki,
Turku, to Littoinen, Kaarina. At that same time, the production of the bent
wooden parts was automated and the inch system used for dimensioning the
products was replaced with the metric system. Due to this reason, when measured
in millimeters and compared with current products, the dimensions of the early
products are “all over the place”. The surface treatments were also replaced
and, all in all, the products got a much more mass-produced feel.”

> “I’m specifically interested in products designed between the 1920s and 1960s,
> since during that period, products were still mainly made by hand.”

In the early days, in addition to beech, the furniture designed by Aino and
Alvar Aalto was also made of mahogany and other types of dark hardwood. When was
Finnish birch selected as the wood used in Artek’s furniture?
“Alvar Aalto developed the wood bending method together with carpenter Otto
Korhonen in the 1920s. Beech was mainly chosen as the material for the pieces
designed for Paimio Sanatorium, as well as the other early furniture models,
because Korhonen had it in his factory. Korhonen had acted as a guarantor for a
company that went bankrupt and been left with piles of hardwood.

After the furniture designed for Paimio Sanatorium, beech was used more
sparingly, for example, in the top veneers of the armrests of lounge chairs. As
a wood species, beech is easier to bend than birch, which is why it was
excellently suited for the manufacture of Aalto’s furniture featuring bent
wooden parts. However, when the factory ran out of beech, it was difficult to
get more because beech does not grow in Finland.

During the first decades, dark types of hardwood were used in Artek’s products
in addition to birch, and even birch furniture was usually stained dark. Many of
the Aalto coffee tables we have in our home are made of mahogany, teak or elm
veneer. Mixing and matching furniture made of different types of wood creates a
completely different atmosphere when compared to only using furniture made of
light-colored birch. When the factory moved to Kaarina in the 1960s, the use of
dark wood also gradually ceased.”


Pertti's two passions – design and music – combine in a music room furnished
with Aalto's furniture and lamps. A Braun radio with a vinyl player was once
sold at Artek.

While searching for objects, Männistö has found new information about many
products designed by Aalto. For example this floor lamp, sold under Alvar
Aalto's name, is probably designed by one of his collaborators, master
blacksmith Viljo Hirvonen.

The bookshelf is assembled from Artek's 112B shelves and 1960s cabinets with
sliding doors. The luminaire in the middle row is a prototype by Alvar Aalto.

The luminaire designed by Alvar Aalto is a prototype found in the estate of
architect Jaakko Kontio, who worked at Aalto's office.

In addition to your museum collection, your home in Kaarina features furniture
and lamps designed by Aino and Alvar Aalto. What makes them such unparalleled
interior design products?
“Like many other people, I don’t want to keep redecorating my home. The
furniture designed by Aino and Alvar Aalto has a distinct identity that makes it
timeless. Its balanced design is easy on the eyes, and you never get bored of
it. And what is more, the proportions of the pieces are balanced, and the
furniture is easy to place in any room.

I can’t even imagine decorating my home with disposable tables made of chipboard
or massive sofas that you soon get tired of and are anything but durable. The
furniture and lamps designed by Aino and Alvar Aalto are not only designed but
also made to last for decades. The wood joints last from one generation to the
next, and the patina accumulated over time only makes the wooden parts more
beautiful. Even the earliest pieces featured in my museum collection, the wooden
furniture from the 1930s, are still perfectly usable, although I don’t have the
heart to use the pieces anymore because they are so rare.”


The livingroom is filled with beautiful autumn light through the big windows.
The Chair 62 was designed by Aino Aalto in the 1940s.

The rare pendant in the living room is one of the lamps Alvar Aalto designed for
Maison Carré, the private residence of the Parisian art collector Louis Carré
and his wife.

What is your take on patina and how have you refurbished the Aalto furniture in
your home?
“I like patina more than anything, and it’s important to me that the life we’ve
lived is also reflected in the furniture and lamps in our home. The 62 chairs
designed by Aino Aalto are from the 1940s, but we have upholstered them with
old, unused wool fabric. Aino Aalto used to select the upholstery fabrics for
Artek’s products, and sometimes the fabrics were imported all the way from
Morocco. The green wool fabric of our dining chairs resembles the original
fabric.

The sofa set in our living room was designed by Alvar Aalto for the interior of
National Pensions Institute, which was completed in 1956 in Helsinki, Finland.
The seats still feature Artek’s original wool fabric with a herringbone pattern.
In addition to regular vacuuming, we have taken care of the seats by having them
washed in the laundry from time to time.

The metal parts of the lamps or the wooden parts of the furniture, on the other
hand, have not required any maintenance. Modern varnishes often give wooden
surfaces a plastic look, unlike traditional cellulose varnish or shellac. The
shellac-treated armrests of the A36 lounge chair in our music room serves as an
excellent example of this, as the armrests look almost as if they had been
gilded. Over time and use, the surface of the wood has become silky and matte,
which always looks more beautiful and feels more comfortable under the hands
than something brand new. It would be downright criminal to repair such wooden
surfaces.”


In the reading corner downstairs, there’s one of the first five ever produced
floor lamp A805’s. The wood panel detail in the corner was designed and executed
by Pertti's wife Kirsti.

The surface of the mahogany coffee table resembles a boat deck. The book is one
of Pertti’s many design archives.

The Artek 901 serving trolley designed in the 1930’s is
beautifully-proportioned. The floor light next to it is the first floor lamp
Alvar Aalto ever designed.

Is your collection still missing something you dream of?
“A few weeks ago, I got a 1930s beech-frame lounge chair for my collection that
I didn’t even think existed. An almost similar unique model can be found in
Villa Mairea, and a similar version is also on display in the Vitra Design
Museum. However, none of the chairs are completely identical, and I believe that
my chair was probably designed for some exhibition. Unless I come across similar
surprises, my furniture and lamp collection is practically complete. But when it
comes to glass objects designed by Alvar Aalto, I could still supplement my
collection with a few.”

> “A few weeks ago, I got a 1930s beech-frame lounge chair for my collection
> that I didn’t even think existed.”

So, what’s next, now that there is good reason to call your collection complete?
“I’ve been writing a book on my collection for 10 years. My book, which
currently goes by the name aaltodesigncollection, will be completed in the
coming months, and its almost 500 pages feature all the items in my collection
except for a few duplicates. The book also brings forward versions of the
objects that were made possible by the craftsmanship-oriented collaboration
between the designer and the makers.”

• Shop the Petri Männistö's Aalto Design Collection book here >


Pertti Männistö is finalizing a book that focuses on his comprehensive Aalto
collection.

Which archived Artek product would you like to see in production again?
“In the 1930s, Aino and Alvar Aalto designed several small chests of drawers
and, for instance, a cabinet with bent legs. These products would go perfectly
with modern interiors and aptly meet the needs of today. Aino Aalto, whose role
as Alvar’s “right-hand woman” I cannot emphasize enough, has been marked as the
designer of several pieces of the storage furniture.”


GET INSPIRED


Artek
Aalto chair 62

Arabia
Valencia serving plate

Artek
Aalto armchair 45

Artek
Floor lamp A808

Artek
Aalto chair 62

Iittala
Finlandia 100 Aalto vase

Artek
Aalto chair 611

Iittala
Aino Aalto tumbler



FAVORITES FROM PERTTI MÄNNISTÖ’S AALTO COLLECTION

Pertti Männistö’s extensive Aalto collection includes more than 1,000 objects.
We present six treasures – including Alvar Aalto’s armchair, that was a starting
point for the private collection.


1. The first treasure in the collection was a prototype of the A36/401 lounge
chair. The model never entered mass production, but a lighter “earless” model
was unveiled at the Triennale held in Milan, Italy, in 1933. However, already
the following year, the chair featured the “ears” again.

2. Aino Aalto designed the large green fruit bowl for a glass-design competition
organized by Finnish Karhula Glassworks in 1932 and was awarded with the second
prize for it.

3. The delicate display cabinet was designed by Aino Aalto in the 1930s.

4. Pertti Männistö hopes that the display cabinet designed by Aino Aalto and
this chest of drawers designed by Alvar Aalto in the 1930s would be brought back
to production.

5. The dining chair 62 designed by Aino Aalto dates back to 1938. It has rare,
so-called wartime legs and original upholstery.

6. Alvar Aalto designed the Saturn lamp for the interior of the Southwestern
Finland Agricultural Cooperative Building completed in 1928 in Turku, Finland.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


SEE ALSO:

• Alvar Aalto's designs at Franckly >
• Aino Aalto's designs at Franckly >
• Pertti Männistö: Aalto Design Collection book >

Text: Selina Vienola Images and video: Joni Tuominen Archive images: Pertti
Männistö

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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