Pair of Lounge chairs - (1939) 1940s

Sheepskin and birch
89 x 106 x 105 cm

Originally designed for the Aulanko Hotel's lounge area in 1939, these armchairs by Märtha Blomstedt embody the functionalism and modernism for which Finnish designers became famous.
The hotel's construction in the city of Hämeenlinna at the shore of Lake Vanajavesi was entrusted to Blomstedt & Lampén, and conceived as a total artwork where the design of the functional architecture, its interplay with the natural setting, as well as the furniture, artworks, tableware, and textile, were treated as an ensemble.
The armchairs designed for the hotel had tubular steel feet, but after the outbreak of the war, steel could no longer be used for furniture, and a model - like the one presented here - was subsequently designed with round feet in tainted elm wood. This pair of chairs dates from the 1940s.