Inspired by the thousands of lakes in his native Finland, architect Alvar Aalto’s fluid waves (“aalto” is wave in Finnish) won an award at the Paris World Fair in 1937. Since then, it’s become a timeless symbol of Scandinavian design. The legendary Aalto vase seamlessly combines form and function. Each unique glass vase goes through a multi-step production process at the Iittala glass factory. The vase is mouthblown then the pieces are hand cut before going through several polishings.