Studio Notes: Aalto Collection
Pimio Chair, Alvar & Aino Aalto, 1931-193
Studio Notes: AALTO
Where structure meets flow.
Where structure meets flow.
In a world obsessed with novelty, the Aalto Collection looks to what lasts. Inspired by the architecture and philosophy of Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto, the collection studies how form and feeling coexist. How a curve, a plane, or a line can hold both structure and softness. From the rippling silhouette of the Savoy vase to the human warmth of Aalto's modernism, his work reminds us that modern design is not cold; it is profoundly human.
Savoy Vase by Alvar Aalto for Ittala, 1936
Aalto's forms weren’t about perfection but about how people live with objects. How a line can follow the body, or how light moves through space makes its way into designs expressing both form and function. That same tension between geometry and grace is what shapes this collection. Each piece begins with a study in proportion: a sculptural rhythm of solid 14k gold, negative space, and precise dimension. What emerges is jewelry that feels architectural yet intimate. As always with White Space pieces, designed to be worn, touched, and lived with.
Crafted in solid 14k gold, the pieces feature luminous white pearls from the Tennessee River and softly sculpted silhouettes. Pendants trace the collarbone, earrings echo water’s rhythm, bracelets that seem to flow with the hand.
Aalto Duo Necklace, Aalto Bracelet, & Paloma Threaders.
While Alvar’s name is most often remembered, his wife, Aino Aalto, was an equally vital force in shaping the sensibility we now associate with Scandinavian modernism. One of the few women admitted to the University of Helsinki in the 1910s, she graduated as an architect, but also was trained in interior and product design.
An excerpted page from "Aino + Alvar Aalto: A Life Together", featuring Aino's textile sketches, Courtesy Heikki Aalto-Alanen, (Phaidon)
Aino brought a distinct warmth and emotional clarity to her collaborative work with Alvar, pioneering the concept of 'the beauty of the everyday". In fact, this concept, 'kaunis arki' in Finnish, was a core principle for the legendary Finnish furniture and design company Artek, which Aino co-founded in 1935 with her husband Alvar.
Aino Aalto on the Paimio Chair, Courtesy Artek, ©️ Alvar Aalto Museum
Her glassware and interiors expressed a humanity that balanced Alvar’s structural precision: quiet curves, tactile surfaces, the play of transparency and shadow. Together, their work blurred the line between the architectural and the intimate — buildings, furniture, and everyday objects all carrying the same humanist restraint.
That partnership — between logic and feeling, line and life — underpins the Aalto collection. It is a study in how structure can hold softness; how something designed with discipline can still feel deeply alive.
“Movement made still.”
Aalto Drops, Large Aalto Lagniappe Studs & Aalto Lagniappe Necklace
Aalto was designed for the contemplative wearer — one who moves through the world with calm intent. These are modern talismans for quiet strength and enduring grace.
Shop the full Aalto Collection Here.