Marcel Breuer and Thonet

Marcel Breuer and Thonet

In 1925, Marcel Breuer designed metal furniture for various uses at the Bauhaus. In this context, the stool B 9 was created for the cafeteria; later on, it was also used as a table in student apartments and masters’ houses in Dessau and is still part of the Thonet portfolio today. The B 9 is available in four sizes and is suitable for all realms of life: living, dining, sleeping and working. In 1926/1927, Marcel Breuer together with Kálman Langyel founded the company “Standard Möbel” to produce his designs for the Werkbund exhibition “The Dwelling” in Stuttgart-Weissenhof. In the same year, Anton Lorenz joined them and established a network of rights of use for the new tubular steel furniture. The company produced the avant-garde furniture even though there was no demand for it, and their efforts met with little success. 

Due to the success of its bentwood furniture from the 19th century, Thonet was known to the Bauhaus avant-gardists. The family company was interested in the innovative tubular steel furniture and the production techniques at an early point in time. It is therefore no surprise that an agreement between Thonet and Marcel Breuer for a tubular steel furniture programme was signed in 1928. The acquisition of “Standard Möbel” in the following year irrevocably stamped the seal on the cooperation between the Bauhaus architect and Thonet and resulted in the market launch of a comprehensive tubular steel collection, the breadth of which impressively unfolds in the 1930/31 card catalogue. This catalogue – a piece of design history in its own right – presents all of the models that Breuer designed for Thonet, including the cantilever chair S 32 / S 64. 

S 32 / S 64

For the design, Breuer used tubular steel along with the typical Thonet materials – bentwood and wicker cane. In addition, the curved form of the frames established a reference with the classic bentwood furniture. With this design Marcel Breuer succeeded in picking up the Thonet heritage in an ingenious way and combining it with the new world of tubular steel. In addition, he created a veritable design icon: the S 32 / S 64 is one of the most successful cantilever chairs to this day and continues to be part of our programme.