WASSILY CHAIR.........

 

I am sure you recognize this chair and have seen it in many, many spaces. It is often used in modern spaces and lobbies.  I thought you may want to hear the background story of this chair which may read "modern" but it was actually designed by Marcel Breuer in 1925-1926.  It is now called the Wassily chair but was originally known as the Model B3 chair and Breuer designed it while he was working at the Bauhaus school in Germany.

While Breuer was teaching at the Bauhaus, he often rode a bicycle, which inspired him to make one of the most important innovation in furniture design in the twentieth century: the use of tubular steel. The bicycle’s handlebars were lightweight and strong and could be mass-produced.  He figured that if the steel could be bent into handlebars, it could be bent into furniture forms.  Innovations in steel manufacturing allowed this to happen, as before this time, steel tubing had a welded seam and would collapse when bent. 

The Wassily chair was modeled on a traditional club chair but all that remains of it, is it’s outline.  A composition traced in steel.  The canvas seat, back and arms appear to float and the sitter’s body doesn’t touch the steel framework.  

It was first manufactured in the late 1920s by Thonet, under the Model B3 name.  Originally it was available in both a folding and non-folding version, with fabric straps pulled taut on the reverse side with the use of springs.  It was available in both black and white fabric as well as a wire-mesh fabric.  Thonet stopped production during World War II and this version of the chair is extremely rare.

After the Second World War, Gavina picked up the license for the Wassily as well as other Breuer designs and introduced the Wassily with black leather straps.   

It received it’s name due to it’s connection with the painter Wassily Kandinsky (also at the Bauhaus school).  Kandinsky had admired the original chair and Breuer made him an early duplicate.  Decades later, when it was re released by the Italian manufacturer, Gavina, (who had learned about the Kandinsky connection) christened it the “Wassily”.  

Breuer called this chair “my most extreme work...the least artistic, the most logical, the least ‘cozy’ and the most mechanical.”

The Wassily chair has been mass produced since the late 1920s and continues in production today.  It is a design classic and though patent designs are expired, it’s trademark name rights are owned now by Knoll (Knoll bought the Gavina Group, along with all of Breuer’s designs). So, any other manufacturers must market this chair under a name other than Wassily.

                  Source: lookbook.elledecor.com 

                          Knoll

                           via Houzz
Information sources www.wikipedia.org and www.moma.org 


So, do you or would you use the Wassily chair in your home?  I find it a very masculine chair but sometimes you need that hit of masculinity in a space.

I believe that every space can be comfortable, warm, elegant and beautiful. I would love to help you achieve your beautiful space!  

Lisa