Sustainable since 1819: Thonet scoops German Ecodesign Award
Thonet’s iconic 214 coffee house chair picked up a German Ecodesign Award on 2 December 2024 in Berlin, winning the special Timeless Design award in the Product category. “Thonet has been operating sustainably since 1819,” explains Norbert Ruf, Creative Director at Thonet. “Our innovations in exceptionally resource-efficient production using steel and natural wood have written furniture history. This makes us all the more delighted to have been recognised with this German Ecodesign Award.”
The German Ecodesign Award recognises designers, companies and students from Germany and Europe whose work makes an important contribution to the sustainable transformation of our economy and society. It is an annual prize that has been awarded since 2012 by the Federal Ministry for the Environment and the German Environment Agency in cooperation with the International Design Center Berlin. Thonet’s iconic 214 coffee house chair picked up a German Ecodesign Award on 2 December 2024 in Berlin, winning the special Timeless Design award in the Product category. “This chair marked the beginning of modern furniture,” explains Norbert Ruf, Creative Director at Thonet. “It was based on a new technique, the bending of solid wood, which Michael Thonet perfected in the 1850s, making serial production of this chair possible for the very first time.”
With this chair, Thonet has made history. A chair that is archetypical of design classics that has found its place worldwide – a chair, as an iconic example of long-lasting products that will still be purchased in 100 years. Its design language, its history, and its sustainable production are being honored with this special commendation. A chair that makes returning developments of new products, which in turn generate CO2 footprints, unnecessary. A timelessly sustainable chair.
With its clear, minimalist aesthetics and durable design, this classic chair has been used in the most diverse settings for over 160 years. “Michael Thonet began experimenting with wood bending techniques in his workshop in Boppard am Rhein, which he established in 1819. When Prince Metternich, a German statesman at the court of the Austrian Emperor, became aware of Thonet’s work, he summoned him to Vienna. There, Michael Thonet became the first to industrialise furniture production, taking the world market by storm thanks to his unrivalled low prices and innovative distribution,” adds Norbert Ruf. “Synonymous with this revolution is undoubtedly the No. 14 chair, known today as the 214, which has now been manufactured in the millions.” Back then, thirty-six of these disassembled chairs and their screws were packed into a one-cubic-metre shipping crate and sent all around the globe. They were then assembled upon delivery – in Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa. This cemented Thonet’s status as a pioneer of industrial design and made the No. 14 – today the 214 – chair the most successful industrial product in the world. It is the chair that marked the beginning of modern furniture. “Now, as then, this chair can be found in homes, cafés and a wide variety of public spaces. Its design is completely timeless,” enthuses Norbert Ruf. “We see it continuing to be used well into the future in this exact same form, and we are very proud that it has been recognised as the Timeless Design winner by the German Ecodesign Award.”
