The Aalto Vase - A Quiet Revolution - DAMN° magazine

Story : An Michiels
Published : December 2025

In 2026, Iittala celebrates ninety years of the Aalto Vase. The object that was at first considered a provocation evolved into one of the most recognisable icons in the history of modern design. At its birth, the vase stood apart from the prevailing modernist aesthetic of hard materials and rigid geometries. Finnish design couple Alvar and Aino Aalto offered something radically different: a soft, human-centred form, alive with movement. What emerged was not just a vessel but, as one critic later described, “a permanent shock of the new.”

Full story: https://www.damnmagazine.net/the-aalto-vase-a-quiet-revolution

Images: Iittala & An Michiels