Armchair Paimio 41

41 Paimio is an armchair from the Finnish brand Artek. The armchair was designed by Alvar Aalto in 1932 for the interior of a tuberculosis sanatorium in the Finnish town of Paimio and is based on the traditional form of the club chair. The design combines this typology with a light, organic structure where the seat is attached to the frame at only four points. This creates a suspended seat with elasticity and a visual sensation of floating in the frame.

The armrests are made of a single piece of wood that is divided into two parts. The solution takes into account how wood changes over time and helps the chair maintain its balance as the material ages. The construction and use of wood are central to the chair's function and expression. It was developed specifically for the sanatorium environment, but at the same time introduced a new way of working with the club chair form within modern furniture design. The model is considered one of Alvar Aalto's central works and is part of Artek's production.