” Alvar Aalto & Kaj Franck – Masters of Everyday Design ” -

1. ”Alvar Aalto & Kaj Franck – Masters of Everyday Design”- Anu Hännikäinen iittala as Iittala Brand heritage

2. Where it all started. Our roots date back to 1881 when the glass factory in Iittala was established by P.M. Abrahamsson. All essentials were close at hand. Wood, water and sand were our ingredients. Today Iittala is a leading Scandinavian design brand from Finland

3. Our rich design heritage • Iittala’s breaktrhough started with the early years of functionalism in 1930s • The iconic Aalto Collection was created in 1936 – will turn 75 in 2011. • The oldest product still in production: Aino Aalto from 1932. • In 1950s and 60s Iittala designers Kaj Franck, Alvar and Aino Aalto, Tapio Wirkkala and Timo Sarpaneva won tens of prizes in Milan Triennials – in 1951 Wirkkala got three out of six Grand Prixs. • We keep our classics alive by intoruducing annually new colours in them

4. Our succes is based on heritage, functional design and consumer understanding • In 2003 Iittala moved beyond being just a glass company to an interior design brand. Iittala is a concept brand working with several different materials. • Today, the success of Iittala is based on strong craftsmanship, cooperation with innovative designers and a deep understanding of our consumers’ behavior. • Our internationally renown designers – e.g. Antonio Citterio, Alfredo Häberli, Oiva Toikka, Harri Koskinen, Anu Penttinen – shape the Iittala future. • E.g. Harri Koskinen received the biggest design prize of the world, the Torsten and Wanja Söderberg prize in Gothenburg in 2009.

5. Our design philosophy. What makes an object Iittala? Thinking behind each object. End user experience. It lasts like Iittala Iittala objects are iconic and timeless. They are forever relevant and stand the test of time because of design foresight and understanding of human needs. It feels like Iittala Iittala objects raise curiosity, they invite to touch and to use. They are pleasing to human senses due to shape, materials and the use of harmonious colours. It works like Iittala Iittala objects are natural and easy to use. They perfectly fit the task and let the end user decide the use. Functional & combinable with each other and other objects in the home. Multifunctional. ´

6. Alvar Aalto collectionsince 1936.Aalto anniversary 2011.

7. Alvar Aalto collection.Philosophy • Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) is known as the father of modern architecture and Scandinavian design. Aalto created his own unique style of architecture and design inspired by nature. He thought good design should be part of everyday life – and this can be seen in his carefully considered works which delight their users from one day to the next. Alvar Aalto never specified how the pieces he designed were to be used, he wanted their users to decide for themselves. • Nature played an important role in Alvar Aalto’s life and as a source of his creativity. The freeform, undulating shapes of the objects in the Aalto collection are like the Finnish landscape with its thousands of lakes – beautiful, alive and untamed. Glassblowers at the Iittala glassworks still sensitively blow the legendary vases in which variations on a single theme and organic shapes give the user the freedom to decide how they are to be used. Different interpretations of the now familiar shape in new colours and materials extend the growing Alvar Aalto Collection while remaining true to his original design philosophy.

8. Alvar Aalto collection.Since 1936. • The Aalto vase is an internationally renowned Finnish design icon and the heart of the Alvar Aalto collection. • The organic shape was the work of world famous architect and designer Alvar Aalto in 1936. • All Aalto vases are mouth blown at Iittala, in Finland. Blowing one vase takes seven glassblowers working together seamlessly. • The shape of the Aalto vase was drawn from the shoreline of Finland’s thousands of lakes. Aalto wanted to retain the link between man and nature. • His philosophy was that users should be free to decide for themselves how the piece was to be used. • The original Alvar Aalto collection did not only contain vases but objects that could be used in a variety of everyday contexts, as a tray, a fruit bowl, a plant pot or to store bits and bobs. • The Savoy shape of the Aalto vase is an EU trademark registered to the Iittala Group.

9. Alvar Aalto collection.The Savoy design is born. • Alvar Aalto's first sketches for the vases were jokingly named "Eskimo woman's leather trousers". Curved, asymmetric and freely meandering shapes deviated from the symmetrical shapes of traditional glass design. • The vases created following the Eskimo woman’s leather trousers design were first displayed at the Paris Exhibition in 1937. The collection featured about ten different objects, from a shallow dish to a vase a metre high. • These successful vases were obtained for the Savoy restaurant in Helsinki, when Aalto was responsible for the interior design in 1937. Later the most popular model (product number 9750) became known as Savoy. • In the history of the Finnish art industry Aalto’s Savoy or the Aalto vase represents an attempt at new unusual design. Today it is one of the internationally best known pieces of Finnish design.

10. Heritage. Our designers. Kaj Franck had an extreme yet rational design philosophy based on three familiar basic shapes A circle A square A rectangle Franck believed objects should be multi-functional and combinable. Together with Kaj Franck, Aino and Alvar Aalto believed objects should be essential, crafted, beautiful, useful and democratically available to all. Aino and Alvar Aalto believed design should be humanising, and refused to show how their objects should be used – ”The end user decides the use”. Kaj Franck Centennial(1911-1989)

11. Teema 1952 and Kartio 1958. The secret behind their popularity. • Essential and necessary • Designed around consumers’ real needs, only essential objects • Timeless • For every day use and special occasions. Changing with lifestyles, habits and culinary trends. Living with the seasons, through the different stages of life (from singles to families, passed on from one generation to the next). The design with its clean lines never becoming boring and never going out of fashion. • Versatile • From oven to table (Teema) • Stackable, space-saving, one object – many uses. • A range from which everyone can pick their favourite to suit their own needs. • Classics of the Finnish table • Revolutionary design in the 1950s, still delight the eye and the senses. Clean, uncompromising design, a lifelong friend. Low collectability threshold, easy to combine. • Colours • A wide colour scheme enables restrained as well as colourful and personal table settings, colour can also be used to emphasise different seasons.

12. Iittala offers best Finnish design for the home • In1930s Iittala made the transition from traditional, decorative dinner sets to simple, multifunctional functional Scandinavian design. • Mix and match principle • Iittala items can be combined with each other easily – or with your old items • Combinability offers Iittala consumers endless possibilities to make their own combinations – to be the final designers. • Iittala design is so timeless you never want to throw it away. • Things with a thought • We can do with less items when the items are thought through in form, function and quality. Teema 2010 Kilta 1952 = Teema 1981

13. Iittala colour scheme 2011. Pale blue/ turquoise Rio brown /terracotta (new colours!) Grey/ black White /clear

14. Iittala in essence. Timeless design and future classics with stories behind. Multifunctionality, strong heritage and craftsmanship. Products for everyday life at home, more specificly for the kitchen and livingroom Products for all lifestages Moving away from home Settling down Building new homes Gifting Wedding Birthday Something special for someone special Inspiration for creating a special everyday Timeless design with a thought

15. Inspiration Just mix and match

16. Inspiration

17. Just mix and match Inspiration

18. Timeless designs with a thought Birds by Toikka 1972 Sarpaneva 1960 Tools 1998 Aino Aalto 1932 Kartio 1958 Aalto 1936 Aarne 1948 Kilta/ Teema 1952 Origo 1999 Kivi 1988 Some future classics: Essence 2001 Taika 2007 Collective Tools 2000 Inspired by Aalto 2006 Korento 2011 Birds by Penttinen 2008 Vitriini 2010 Fireplace 2008

19. Thebeautylieswithinsimplisity! Thank you!