The famous coffee house chair is an icon and considered the most successful mass-produced product in the world to date: it initiated the history of modern furniture. The basis was a new technique – the bending of solid wood – that Michael Thonet developed and perfected during the 1850s, and it was the first time serial furniture production was possible. And then there was an ingenious distribution model: 36 disassembled chairs could be packed into a one cubic metre box, shipped throughout the world and then assembled on site. With its clear, reduced aesthetics, this classic has been used in a wide variety of settings for more than 150 years.
The wood for the 214 is sourced from sustainably managed forests. Thanks to its exceptional quality and timeless aesthetics, it’s also extremely long-lasting and repairs can easily be made at any time. All of these features were enough to convince the jury of the German Sustainability Award to name our successful model, which has survived more than 160 years of various fashions and trends, a winner in the Design category for 2021.
