Artek ColoRing Special Edition Stool 60

More about Artek ColoRing Special Edition Stool 60Finland and Japan celebrate the 100-year anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2019, and are commemorating the centennial by creatively combining their distinct design aesthetics. The soulmate cultures share a love for minimal, meaningful, and functional pieces that combine nature and art. Part of Artek’s FIN/JPN Friendship Collection, which launched at Salone de Mobile in Milan April of 2019, the ColoRing Stools are an ode to old and new. The classic Stool 60 gets a funky makeover in collaboration with Tokyo-based architect and designer Jo Nagaska. Drawing on two traditional Japanese craft techniques, Udukuri and Tsugaru-nuri, Nagasaka creates an original method that lends itself to a semi-industrial process.

Called ColoRing, the finish uses soft-grained pinewood as a surface veneer. The softer parts are removed with a hard-haired brush to achieve a unique, uneven surface. Two contrasting yet complementary colored lacquers are added, then sanded to unveil the layers beneath. The result is irregular patterns that evoke the colorful contours and dynamic depth of topographical maps. These intriguing juxtapositions provide a fresh, inventive way to appreciate the beauty of wood’s grain.

This new Stool 60 collection still utilizes the same bent-leg technology developed by Alvar Aalto in the 1930’s, and shares the same stackable functionality, long-lasting craftsmanship, and timeless silhouette. Finnish birch trees, aged 60-80 years old, are carefully selected and dried at the factory for one year before being crafted into one of these stools. The production of a single stool requires 45 stages, 25 of which are solely for the unique bent "L-leg." From collaboration to craftsmanship of this collection, teamwork and partnership are at its core – and the iconic design continues to bring people together.