These iconic lounge chairs were designed by Finnish architect Märta Blomstedt for the lounge room of the Aulanko Hotel in Hameenlinna, Finland. The hotel, completed in 1938, soon became a one of Finland’s most luxurious hotels and a fine example of Finnish Modernism. It also became the first congress centre in Finland and large spaces for meetings, seminars and gatherings were created within the building.

Different versions were produced. While the original armchairs displayed in the hotel are standing on tubular steel feet, the commercial version presents spherical wooden feet. They were the only furniture designed by Märta Blomstedt for the hotel.

Märta Blomstedt (1899-1982), born von Willebrand, studied architecture and the new modern functionnalism at the Helsinki University of Technology. She married fellow student and architect Pauli E. Blomstedt in 1924. While working as independent architects, they sometimes partnered for some projects until Pauli’s death in 1935. Märta was then joined by Matti Lampén to complete some of the designs her husband had begun. They eventually created their own firm, Blomstedt & Lampén, that company that was commissioned to design the Aulenko Hotel.