How to arrange flowers in Aalto vases - styled by Viivi Valkeeniemi

Alvar Aalto was inspired by nature when he designed the iconic Aalto vases. The classic Aalto-vase, launched in 1936, is as relevant today as it was almost 90 years ago. The vase’s organic shape inspires us to create various flower arrangements.

We invited the Helsinki-based floral artist and founder of Studio Viivi, Viivi Valkeeniemi, to design four different floral arrangements and share her tips on how to arrange flowers in different sized Aalto vases. Explore her tips and let your creativity bloom.

Pay attention to the height of flowers you choose in comparison to the vase you have. A higher vase requires longer stems. This is to do justice to the shape of the flora and let the flowers and stems form a harmonious entity together with the vase.

Create interesting dimensions to the arrangement by placing flowers on different levels. Remember to remove leaves from the lower part of stems that are in the water. This makes the water stay clean and the flowers last longer.

Flower inspiration from Myiittala community

Discover further inspiration for creating flower arrangements from the Myiittala community. Experiment with different flowers and plants and get inspired by the pioneering design of Aalto.