The Wassily Chair was designed by Marcel Breuer in 1927 while an apprentice at the Bauhaus. It is named after the artist Wassily Kandinsky (fellow Bauhaus instructor). The tubular steel frame was groundbreaking at the time for use with furniture, and was inspired by the handlebars on Breuer's bicycle, which he found to be strong, lightweight, and conducive for mass production. He states, "Mass production... made me interested in polished metal, in shiny and impeccable lines in space, as new components of our interiors. I considered such polished and curved lines not only symbolic of our modern technology but actually to be technology."
The chair is modeled after the traditional club chair, only simplified to its outline. While sitting, your body does not come in contact with the steel framing. Nonetheless, Breuer felt this chair was "my most extreme work . . . the least artistic, the most logical, the least 'cozy' and the most mechanical."
References:
- http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=2851
- http://www.knoll.com/products/product.jsp?prod_id=65
- http://www.dwr.com/category/designers/a-c/marcel+breuer.do
Love and Joy come to you; and to you your Wassily too.....
ReplyDeleteMike-
ReplyDeleteI knew you'd have fun with that one!