Artek was founded in 1935 by four young idealists, Alvar and Aino Aalto, Maire Gullichsen, and Nils-Gustav Hahl. The business idea of the company was "to sell furniture and to promote a modern culture of habitation by exhibitions and other educational means." The founders of Artek advocated a new kind of environment for everyday life. They believed in a grand synthesis of the arts and wanted to make a difference in town planning, as well as architecture and design. Today, Artek is renowned as being one of the most innovative contributors to modern design, building on the heritage of Alvar Aalto. Functionality and timeless aesthetics are the essential elements in the creation of every product that bears the Artek name. Artek's comprehensive furniture system is based on the original idea of standards and systems, which has its origin from Alvar Aalto's L-system. The standard and system thinking makes the furniture range versatile and allows it to be customized for individual projects. Artek's furniture can be found in various types of spaces; from public spaces to homes, museums to schools, and hotels to offices.

Architect Aino Marsio met Alvar Aalto in 1924 while working for his office in Jyväskylä, Finland, and the two were soon off on an Italian honeymoon. With a visual artist and art historian they established Artek (art plus technology) in 1935 to produce their bent-wood furniture. Although her work largely went unaccredited, Aino is most famous for her colorful glassware, still in production by Iittala.

Jules Seltzer is a full service dealership, retail, wholesale, and contract sales. Established in 1937, the company is the oldest operating Herman Miller dealership in the World. We are known for the Company we keep: Knoll, Fritz Hansen, Carl Hansen, Vitra, USM, Artek, Team 7, Geiger, Bernhardt, and Krug to name a few. Our client list reads like a "Who’s Who" of corporate America, medical centers, hospitality, education, as well as residences. We are members of both National IIDA and AIA.

Finland's llmari Tapiovaara (1914-1999) was one of the greatest interior architects and designers of his era. Tapiovaara sought new solutions to improve everyday objects. During his long career Tapiovaara created dozens of iconic objects, many of which are still produced today by Artek. Tapiovaara is especially revered for capturing the essence of Finnish identity. Today the contemporary Tapiovaara Family Collection maintains the timeless heritage of a master of Finnish design. Ilmari Tapiovaara graduated in 1937 as interior architect from the department of furniture design of the Central School of Applied Arts in Helsinki. After graduation he obtained the position of assistant for six months at Le Corbusier’s office in Paris. In 1938 Tapiovaara began work as artistic director and designer at Asko Oy, the largest furniture manufacturer in Finland, and in 1941 he was hired as artistic and commercial director for the furniture company Keravan Puuteollisuus Oy. In 1946–47 Tapiovaara designed, together with his wife, Annikki Tapiovaara, furniture for Domus Academica, the new student housing facility in Helsinki. It was in that project the famous Domus Stacking Chair was designed. Ilmari Tapiovaara was a great admirer of Alvar Aalto’s work, and he wanted to create products based on the same ideological premises. Tapiovaara embraced the principle of social equality of functionalism, and felt that architecture was the starting point of his design work. In addition to dozens of chairs and other furniture—mostly intended for public spaces—Tapiovaara also designed interiors for banks, offices, hotels and showrooms.