Artek + Heath Collaboration

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Beauty, utility, integrity, longevity—these principles guide both Artek and Heath Ceramics —two heritage design companies with a shared ethos for making products that support modern living and endure for generations. This year, the two have come together once again to produce a collection of furniture that embodies their values and showcases their creative chemistry.

Founded an ocean apart more than 70 years ago, Artek and Heath have each maintained a legacy of craft rooted in natural materials and thoughtful production methods. Artek and Heath products are manufactured with respect for people and the environment, upholding high standards of ​ quality, safety, and sustainability. Their partnership brings together world-class craftsmanship and exceptional design integrity.

This year’s collaboration has produced a distinctive line of furniture that marries Artek’s iconic bent wood and Heath’s legendary ceramic. The designs speak to the interrelationship between trees and earth, and celebrate the origins of the materials. The Rectangular Tile Table and Square Tile Table will launch internationally on October 20, 2022—in Finland, Japan, and the United States—along with a special edition of Artek’s famous Stool 60 in the collection’s green hues.

Tile Tables

Made with materials from both Finland and California, the Tile Table reflects this international collaboration. Artek furniture is manufactured in Finland from Finnish birch, keeping with the original vision of Alvar Aalto. Developed in the 1930s, Artek’s process of bending solid wood created the L-shaped leg that gives the Aalto Table its characteristic look. Heath’s tradition of glaze experimentation led to surfaces with natural variation and signature details in shades of green, white and black.

A single dual-glaze tile on each table creates a mark unique to this design. The Aalto Tables are topped with Heath ceramic tiles that mirror their shape—rectangular 2x6” tiles on the Rectangular Tile Table, and 2x2” tiles atop the Square Tile Table.

Set of Nesting Stools

Designed as an extension of the tables’ glaze and material palettes, the stacking set of green-topped stools create an adaptable system of furniture that functions in many ways. Manufactured in Turku, Finland, Alvar Aalto’s iconic Stool 60 is the most elemental of furniture pieces. Heath reimagined the design as a set of nesting stools, with seats in a spectrum of greens that echo the tile glaze palette. The set features custom leg heights, which allow for playful arrangements, and many uses. When stacked, the stools reveal a satisfying cascade pattern— a functional sculpture that rests neatly on the floor.

Artek + Heath, Together

While Heath Ceramics is based in California, and Artek
​in Finland, the two companies are kindred spirits, sharing a parallel approach to design, materiality, form and color; and complementary but distinct areas of expertise. Together, their creative union has produced a collection of Finnish-American furniture, manufactured to exacting standards on two continents, crafted to display the qualities that have ensured both companies’ enduring legacies.

About Artek

Artek was founded in Helsinki in 1935 by four young idealists: Alvar and Aino Aalto, Maire Gullichsen, and Nils-Gustav Hahl. Their goal was “to sell furniture and to promote a modern culture of living through exhibitions and other educational means.” In keeping with the radical spirit of its founders, Artek today remains

an innovative player in the world of modern design, developing new products at the intersection of design, architecture, and art.

About Heath

Founded in California in 1948, Heath Ceramics designs, makes, and sells dinnerware and tile with a commitment to craft and longevity. All of Heath’s products are made by hand in the San Francisco Bay Area, using the same processes and techniques that founders Edith and Brian Heath established. The company is now run by wife-and- husband team Catherine Bailey and Robin Petravic, who lead the business with a vision of ecological stewardship, social equity, and thriving creativity.