Alvar Aalto in “Community: The Architecture of Civic Space and Private Domains” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

International style architecture and Bauhaus design strongly influenced late Finnish architect Alvar Aalto’s influential bent plywood furniture, sourced from his country’s birch and pine forests.  His famous ‘Paimio chair,’ designed for a tuberculosis hospital in Paimio, Finland, and now on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the fascinating group exhibition, “Community: The Architecture of Civic Space and Private Domains,” was angled to allow patients to better breathe and cough.  Material choices along with color and other considerations were essential elements in Aalto’s and his wife Aino’s designs, aimed at meeting the needs of individuals.  (Ongoing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the Upper East Side).

Alvar Aalto, ‘Model No. 41’ Lounge Chair for the Paimio Sanatorium, laminated birch, 1931-32.

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Merrily Kerr

Merrily Kerr is an art critic and writer based in New York. For more than 20 years, Merrily has published in international art magazines including Time Out New York, Art on Paper, Flash Art, Art Asia Pacific, Art Review, and Tema Celeste in addition to writing catalogue essays and guest lecturing. Merrily teaches art appreciation at Marymount Manhattan College and has taught for Cooper Union Continuing Education. For more than a decade Merrily has crafted personalized tours of cultural discovery in New York's galleries and museums for individuals and groups, including corporate tours, collectors, artists, advertising agencies, and student groups from Texas Woman's University, Parsons School of Design, Chicago's Moody Institute, Cooper Union Continuing Education, Hunter College Continuing Education and other institutions. Merrily's tours have been featured in The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, Sydney Morning Herald and Philadelphia Magazine. Merrily is licensed by New York City's Department of Consumer Affairs as a tour guide and is a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA USA)

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