The exhibition showcases the band of gifted designers who worked at Artek over a period of more than 60 years. It puts the spotlight on key designers and lesser-known creators on whose drawing boards unforgettable classics of Artek and Finnish design were born.

The Power of the Collective – the Drawing Office at the Heart of Artek’s Design

Over the decades, Artek’s drawing office employed a wide-ranging assortment of interior architects, textile designers, and applied-arts professionals. Their efforts are behind many familiar products, but, as individuals, as designers, they have remained almost anonymous. Some stayed at Artek for only a short time, while for others it became their entire career. Visibly Invisible – Artek’s Drawing Office 1936–2004 puts the spotlight on these talented creators, who shared in the making of Artek’s success story as a major player in modern European design and décor.

The drawing office’s practice was based on a powerful shared mission characterised by a commitment to aesthetically and qualitatively high-level design, and to Aaltos’ legacy. The drawing office was a collective whose activities spanned a broad spectrum of design tasks, from furniture for private and public spaces to the minutest details of the home. This comprehensive design approach also included interiors, textiles, fairs and exhibitions, as well as utility prints. In this work, the designers were uncompromising guardians and continuers of Artek’s approach. The free, creative use of structural elements based on Alvar Aalto’s innovations gave rise to a diverse spectrum of new furniture, to a more anonymous artek design that could be adapted for various spaces.

Interior design sketch for the Interbau exhibition, 1957, Maija Heikinheimo. Drawing from the Artek Collection, Alvar Aalto Museum.

The Legacy of Artek’s Designers in Finnish Design

The exhibition brings out the varied work and output of the drawing office’s key designers, such as Maija Heikinheimo, Hellevi Ojanen, Pirkko Stenros, and Ben af Schultén. Also on display are masterworks designed for Artek by ceramicist Marita Lybeck, textile artist Li Englund, and designer Antti Nurmesniemi, who all collaborated with the drawing office. Sinikka Killinen, Marja Pystynen, and Marja-Liisa Parko had long careers at Artek, and are profiled here as skilled implementers of textile and interior designs. In the exhibition, we can recognise pieces of everyday furniture that are nostalgically familiar to many of us, and which have already become classics, such as the children’s high chair designed by Ben af Schultén, the children’s chairs in Kristian Gullichsen’s plywood Vanikka furniture range, and Anna-Maija Jaatinen’s vertical coat rack designed for Norrmark Handicraft.

Designers of the Artek Drawing Officet at Rautatalo, 1975. Photo Artek Collection, Alvar Aalto Museum.

The furniture and other items here are mainly from the Artek collection administered by the Alvar Aalto Museum. Private individuals and design collectors have also loaned objects for the exhibition.

Visibly Invisible – Artek’s Drawing Office 1936–2004
23 May 2025 – 14 September 2025

The Aalto2 Museum Centre is a meeting place for architecture, design and cultural heritage in Jyväskylä, Finland.

Media inquiries: press@aalto2.museum

More information on the exhibition: 
Mari Murtoniemi
Alvar Aalto Museum
mari.murtoniemi@alvaraalto.fi
+358 40 355 9162