‘Vague Kobe’ and ‘Artek 2nd Cycle’ are currently hosting ‘90 Summers’, an exhibition curating furniture imbued with the passage of time

‘Artek 2nd Cycle’ began in 2006 as a project to collect furniture by Alvar Aalto and Aino Aalto that had been cherished for many years in schools, factories, shipyards, private homes, flea markets and garage sales. It serves as Artek’s platform (https://www.artek.fi/2ndcycle/en) for Finnish design that has been passed down through the ages, and a physical shop was opened in Helsinki, Finland, in 2011. Now, ‘Vague Kobe’—a gallery, shop and restaurant housed in Kobe’s historic Chartered Building, completed in 1938—has organised the exhibition ‘90 Summers’ in collaboration with ‘Artek 2nd Cycle’, bringing together interiors suited to a second life. Respecting the timeless and distinctive designs honed through everyday use, the initiative aims to pass on their high quality, durability and universal appeal to future generations through careful restoration and re-circulation.