Mid-Century Brass Sconce by Alvar Aalto for Louis Poulsen, 1960s

Architect-designer Alvar Aalto was born in Kuortane, Finland in 1898. He enrolled at the Helsinki Institute of Technology in 1916 and, although his studies were disrupted by the Finnish Civil War, he graduated with a degree in architecture in 1921. In 1923, he established an architectural studio in Jyväskylä, Finland, marrying fellow architect Aino Mandelin the following year. In 1927, the office moved to Turku. Aalto’s aesthetic evolved from a neo-classical style to a functionalist one during the late 1920s and, in the 1930s, moved towards a less rigid Rationalism with an eye for nature’s organic models, ultimately embracing modernism in the 1950s.

Aalto was committed to the concept of a Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art), emphasizing fluidity between his projects’ surrounding environments and their interiors. He experimented with plywood in designs such as the Paimio Chair (1931–32), while the Paimio Sanatorium (1932) was driven by the idea that the building itself could contribute to the healing process. In 1935, Aalto met factory owners Maire and Harry Gullischsen, with whom he launched Artek. The furniture company manufactured and sold Aalto’s designs in Finland and abroad, and thanks in part to his relationship with the Gullischsens, Aalto received important large-scale Finnish industry planning and building commissions.

In 1937, Aalto designed the Finnish Pavilion at the International Expo of Arts and Technology in Modern Life in Paris. Its success led to a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York the following year. In 1939, he designed the Finnish Pavilion at the World’s Fair in New York. During the 1940s, he taught architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge; his time there culminated in his design of the Baker House Dormitory (1947–49). Working on the postwar reconstruction of Finland’s towns and cities, he advocated flexible standardization of large-scale industrialized building, wherein the building elements could be combined in multiple ways to satisfy various environments and users’ needs.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Aalto was highly productive; notable projects include the Kansaneläkelatos (National Pensions Insurance Institute) in Helsinki as well as commissions outside Finland, ranging from a lavish residence near Paris for art dealer Louis Carré (1956) to a church in the mountain town of Riola, Italy (built 1975–80). Following Aino’s passing in 1949, Aalto married architect Elissa Mäkiniemi in 1952.

Aalto passed away in 1976 in Helsinki.

Now recognized as one of the world’s foremost lighting manufacturers, Louis Poulsen began its long life in 1874, first as the Copenhagen Direct Wine Import Company, and then, starting in 1896, as an electrical components and tools supplier. In the 1910s, Louis Poulsen (1871-1934), nephew of the Copenhagen-based company’s original founder, took over and soon after became partners with entrepreneur and electricity enthusiast Sophus Kaastrup-Olsen (1884-1938). Together they reincorporated as Louis Poulsen & Co. In 1917, Kaastrup-Olsen acquired Poulsen's shares and became the company’s sole proprietor, just in time to benefit from the increasing demand for electrically powered fixtures that developed during and after World War I.

In 1924, Kaastrup-Olsen began collaborating with Danish architect Poul Henningsen (1894-1967) on the design of an innovative, three-shade lamp system, after Henningsen was chosen to participate in the legendary Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes to be held the following year in Paris. Henningsen won the gold medal there, and his work with the Louis Poulsen & Co. grew into a lifelong collaboration that remains the foundation of its ongoing production today.

Henningsen was obsessed with light and considered himself a “lighting architect.” With his PH Lamp series, he sought to create glare-free yet direct light where it was most needed, accompanied by soft shadows, lit by the then-new incandescent bulbs. He did not just design a light, but an entire system; around a thousand different models have been designed over the years. Pioneering and timeless classics such as Henningsen’s Artichoke Lamp (1958) and the PH5 (1958), as well as fellow Danish designer Verner Panton’s Ceiling Flower Pot lamp (1968) and Panthella table lamp (1971), are considered to be among the most iconic Scandinavian contributions to modern design culture.

Louis Poulsen—beloved by design lovers around the world—continues to specialize in the development and production of lighting solutions for indoor and outdoor applications. With function, comfort, and ambience at the core of each design, the company’s products can be found in numerous design museum collections, including MoMA (New York), Cooper Hewitt (New York), Philadelphia Museum of Art, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Museum of Decorative Arts (Copenhagen), Design Museum (London), and Vitra Design Museum (Weil am Rhein). Today Louis Poulsen is part of Polaris Private Equity.

* All images courtesy of Louis Pousen.