He rejected tubular steel as too susceptible to glare and heat and cold and went on to experiment with the steam techniques that produced his familiar pale, satiny, bentwood birch furniture, so pleasing to the hand and eye.

WSJ: Finnish Master Alvar Aalto | By Ada Louise Huxtable

And London-based architect Andy Martin teamed up with furniture company Thonet to design a gorgeous bentwood fixed-gear bike.

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