In the spirit of Bauhaus many designers followed until the 1940s the primacy of functionality. After a period of playful shapes and colors American and Scandinavian designers established around 1960 the Midcentury Style: Straightforward and modular furniture that reflects the spirit of enterprise and unlimited desire for experimentation.
Like no other, Anton Lorenz has fought for the protection of authorship in the cantilever chair - thus building up an attractive business model and writing legal history along the way.
Born in Budapest in 1891, Anton Lorenz taught geography and history at the beginning of his professional life. Following love, he moved to Leipzig in 1919, and three years later to Berlin. Building on common Hungarian roots, in 1927 he took over the management of Standard Möbel Lengyel & Co - the company founded by Marcel Breuer and his partner Kalmán Lengyel to manufacture tubular steel furniture. After Breuer sold his designs in 1928 (part of it to Thonet), Lorenz resigned from his post and founded Desta – the Deutsche Stahlrohrmöbel GmbH. Beforehand, he had concluded a license agreement with Mart Stam for the production of the cantilever chair developed by the Dutch architect and defended its authorship in court - first and foremost against Thonet. In 1932, the Reichsgericht (Imperial Court) awarded Mart Stam artistic authorship of the chair without back legs in the last instance; before going to Leipzig, both parties had sued at the Berlin Landgericht and Kammergericht, respectively. After the legal defeat, Thonet gradually acquired Stam's designs, while Lorenz set up a department called "Industrial Property Rights" for the company and headed it until 1935.
Landmark judgments
The Lorenz and Thonet trials are considered by historians to be milestones in legal history, as they were the first time that a designer was awarded ownership of a form instead of a technical innovation (see also the article "The mastermind" below). The ruling was confirmed by the German Federal Supreme Court in 1961. Lorenz experienced the outbreak of the Second World War during a trip to the USA; he decided in short order to stay and took up US citizenship in 1949. In the years that followed, Lorenz used the knowledge he had acquired in Europe and, together with Peter Fletcher, developed a series of patents on opening and closing mechanisms for reclining chairs; the Stratolounger is considered the duo's best-known design. Anton Lorenz died in 1964 at the age of 73 and was buried in Greenwich (Connecticut, USA).
In the spirit of Lorenz, WEINBAUMS manufactures the daybed WB21 - a timeless design with borrowings from the Bauhaus era and the Midcentury Style.
Mart Stam is considered the inventor of the cantilever chair. His groundbreaking ideas influenced generations of designers, and a bitter dispute flared up over their authorship from 1930 onwards.
Born in 1899 in Pumerend, the Netherlands, Stam was drawn to faraway places shortly after completing his studies in architecture. After a first stop in Berlin (1922), he moved to Switzerland a year later. There he worked with El Lissitzky, among others, and founded the avant-garde magazine ABC.
In the mid-1920s, Stam began experimenting with gas tubes, from which he assembled chairs without back legs. This simple, inexpensive construction later became known as "Krag" - protruding - and shaped the course of design history like few other inventions. Following an invitation from Mies van der Rohe to participate in the Werkbund exhibition "Die Wohnung", Stam presented the W1, now considered lost, to the public in 1927 (the picture below shows the further development ST12). In the run-up to the exhibition, Stam and van der Rohe had exchanged views on dispensing with the rear legs of chairs, the latter presented at the exhibition his version under the name MR20. In contrast to Stam's rather rigid steel construction, MR20 had an elastic, swinging frame - a comfort element to which Stam attached little importance in his early phase. The cantilever chair is thus considered a variant of the Krag chair, and Mies van der Rohe its spiritual father.
In the 1930s, numerous lawsuits were fought over the intellectual property of the Krag chair, with Anton Lorenz - holder of the rights to Stam's designs - considered the driving force. In a lawsuit against Thonet, the Reichsgericht in Leipzig awarded in 1932 Mart Stam artistic authorship of chairs without back legs. Mies van der Rohe, who had already applied for a patent for his swinging frame in 1926, successfully defended it four years later against Mauser, a German manufacturer of tubutar steel furniture. Unlike Stam and van der Rohe, Marcel Breuers' authorship share of the Krag chair was always dismissed in court. However, his impetus for the industrialization of the design is considered undisputed by historians (see also the article below "Modern for 100 years").
Wanderer between the worlds
After spending several years in Frankfurt am Main, where Mart Stam designed, among other things, the Hellerhofsiedlung as a contribution to the creation of affordable housing, he moved to the Soviet Union in 1930 with his first wife Lotte Stam-Beese and worked there as an urban planner. Stam returned to the Netherlands in 1935 and subsequently became director of the Amsterdam Institute for Arts and Crafts Education. A proponent of alternative social designs, he moved to Dresden in 1948 with his second wife, Olga Stam-Heller, and oversaw the founding of the Academy of Fine Arts. Two years later, Stam was appointed rector of the University of Applied Arts in Berlin-Weißensee. Disillusioned by the real existing socialism, he returned to his homeland in the mid-1950s. Mart Stam spent his retirement in Switzerland and died in Goldach in 1986.
In the tradition of Stam, WEINBAUMS manufactures the WB1 chair series - durable seating furniture with carefully revised proportions, high comfort and timeless design language.
A day like no other: When Walter Gropius took up his position as director of the Bauhaus on 12 April 1919, he laid the foundation for an idea that architects, builders and design lovers all over the world are following to this day.
Two moves, three directors and only 14 years of history. In view of the vast number of works created, the facts leave the viewer incredulous even at second glance. Nestled between two world wars, the Bauhaus created a large number of design principles within a short period of time, which pupils, students and professors around the world are still following 100 years later.
Tubular steel furniture? Cheap and easy to manufacture
All teachers felt committed to Gropius' original idea of reviving arts and crafts in their entirety and to unite architecture, painting and sculpting under him. However, it was Marcel Breuer who, after completing an apprenticeship in Weimar in 1920, returned as a master teacher 5 years later to the Bauhaus and added an important component: product ideas should be able to be converted into production processes which, thanks to their simple design language, can be produced in large quantities with little use of materials could be produced.
Experimenting with tubular steel was the starting point for his considerations, and renouncing opulence was an inevitable result. Breuer reduced the formal language of his designs to what was necessary in order to satisfy the function. Pieces like the B3 above (marketed as the Wassily Chair from the 1960s) were intended to be accessible to a large number of potential customers, but their simple elegance still feels modern today. The company Standard Möbel Lengyel & Co, which he founded with a partner in Berlin, initially took on the production of his designs. In 1928 he sold part of the production rights to Thonet, the Wassily Chair is manufactured by Knoll International.
Looking back over the past 100 years, it seems ironic that the designs by Breuer are still manufactured far away from where they were created. With neo26 - our collection of timeless Bauhaus furniture - we combine the intention of bringing a piece of cultural history back to its place of origin. Following the market launch of our chair and armchair models WB1 to WB4, we gradually expanded the collection to include chaiselongues, barstools and benches.
For decades, desede was considered the epitome of a Swiss institution: solid, functional, calm. Since they knew how to complement these attributes with creativity and a pioneering spirit, the designs of the Aargau-based company are still considered milestones in furniture design today.
After mixed years under the umbrella of a financial investor and the sale to a group of local entrepreneurs, the company has been concentrating again on the core of the brand since 2012: perfectly crafted furniture from Switzerland. The customer base was gradually expanded to include growth markets in Asia, America and the Arabian Peninsula, and pricing is based on manufacturers of luxury goods.
It's the leather, stupid!
The company benefits from the portfolio it has built up over decades and its expertise in dealing with unusual materials. Pieces such as DS47, a sofa upholstered in neck leather, have always delighted our company and inspired further developments. Since 2021 we have been making patchwork carpets from what is probably the most exclusive of all cowhide leathers.
Meanwhile, desede is celebrating the 50th anniversary of an icon that truly wrote stories: the DS-600 sofa landscape. The piece of furniture, introduced in 1972 and consisting of individually addable elements, was the subject of countless aesthetic, cultural-historical and even philosophical considerations. For some it is a functional, modular piece of furniture, for others it symbolizes the beginning and end of our evolutionary history. The truth probably lies somewhere in between.
Since the mid-1960s the Italian entrepreneurs Piero Gatti, Cesare Paolini and Franco Teodoro worked closely together; their designs were exhibited in numerous retrospectives. The Sacco, first introduced to the public in 1968, is considered one of their most renowned works.
During the late 1960s, ergonomics was the all-important concept. Interior designers went passionately in search of perfect flexibility of their creations, including Gatti, Paolini and Teodoro. Their goal was to create an unconventional yet accessible seater that – ideally – would remind its owner of snow. As Gatti put it: "You throw yourself into it and you leave a legacy."
The number of flexible and adaptable furniture was limited in those years. There were already waterbeds available, but only at prohibitively high prices. The French group Utopie was experimenting with inflatable rubber structures, by means of which furniture could be moved easily. However, the aesthetics of these models did not correspond to the ideas of Gatti and his team. In 1967, Italy's design pioneer Zanotta introduced the air-based chair Blow. Design, materials and manufacturing processes were revolutionary; however, the chair was was quite uncomfortable due to its hard surface. Therefore, the three designers chose foam as basic material and experimented with blocks of polyurethane. As procurement and processing proved to be complex and costly, Gatti, Paolini and Teodoro focused on fillings in the form of balls; initially they even used ping-pong balls. Ultimately, Gatti directed his research into the construction industry, where they had been using foam beads for isolation and insulation.
A decisive stimulus from the United States
After completing a first prototype the three designers decided to not proceed with their work - because of their scepticism over the commercial success of such a “bean bag”. However, after an American design magazine asked in 1967 for pictures of their latest works, the team sent in a photo of the product that they called Sacco. A short time later, the Italian representative of Macy's, the mighty New York-based department store chain, approached Gatti: “Product scouts at the headquarters had the Sacco discovered. Now we would be interested in about 10,000 copies." Gatti said that the prototype must be modified further and start of production was not clear yet. Consequently, information on pricing and delivery times was at this stage not yet available.
Undoubtedly, Macy’s offer greatly facilitated the search for eligible production partners. The team quickly opted for Zanotta, the company that had introduced one of the few comparable products to the market shortly before. Zanotta agreed to produce three prototypes and included them in their appearance at the Paris Furniture Fair in 1968. The rest is history. The Sacco has been awarded many times and celebrated in 2018 its 50th anniversary. In honor, Zanotta launched a limited edition of 50 exclusive designs - with beautiful names like Bellissima and Il Casanova.
Arts, culture, and commerce: For more than eight decades has the Hardoy Butterfly Chair been inspiring painters, filmmakers and the creative industries - and provides any room with the charm of an Estancia.
Designed by the architects Bonet, Kurchan and Ferrari-Hardoy for a Buenos Aires-based planning office in 1938 (hence known as BKF in the Americas), the Hardoy Chair was considered a design classic already by the late 1950s. Its structure, consisting of four intersection points, was based on the Tripolina Chair - an armchair designed in the 19th century by the British entrepreneur Joseph Beverly Fenby. The chair combined leather and wood with metal and was intended to promote the fusion of handcrafts and industrial production.
5 million replicas in one decade
The Hardoy Butterfly Chair was introduced to the public during the third edition of a local furniture show (Salon de Artistas Decoradores) in 1940. Following an impressive first appearance, the chair was added to the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (New York) and became rapidly popular among artists, actors and architects. Shortly thereafter, Artek-Pascoe acquired license rights for production and marketing in the U.S. and transferred them to Knoll Associates in 1948. The chair’s commercial success led to a surge in unauthorized replicas, alone in the 1940s over 5 million Butterfly Chairs have been produced.
After numerous legal battles, Knoll ceased series production in 1951. Following that, the Butterfly Chair’s unique design has been periodically reprinted by various manufacturers - since the beginning of 2012 through our company.
Jorge Ferrari-Hardoy is one of the most important architects of Argentina. Besides urban planning and housing, he devoted himself from the mid-1930s to the design of contemporary furniture. The Butterfly Chair is considered his most famous piece.
Ferrari-Hardoy studied until 1937 at the renowned Escuela de Arquitectura in Buenos Aires. He then went to Europe and spent a few months in Paris, together with his college friend Juan Kurchan. Inspired by Le Corbusier who - as a representative of the Congres Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne (CIAM) - had a particular interest in Latin America, Ferrari-Hardoy worked closely with him on the elaboration of a first urban master plan for Buenos Aires. Besides his work in the country’s capital, Ferrari-Hardoy was involved in the regulatory plans of Mendoza and San Nicolás; from 1944 he oversaw the reconstruction of the city of San Juan. From 1947 to 1951 he worked with Jorge Vivanco, the Argentine delegate of CIAM. In addition, Ferrari-Hardoy was lecturer at the Escuela Industrial in La Plata, the Escuela de Arquitectura y Urbanismo de la Universidad del Litoral and at the University of Buenos Aires.
Jorge Ferrari-Hardoy belongs to the generation of Argentinean architects who advocated the ideas of modernism. As a founding member of the planning office Austral he represented together with Juan Kurchan and the Catalan architect Antoni Bonet the works of the Committees of CIAM and CIRPAC (Comité International pour la Résolution of Problèmes de l'Architecture Contemporaine) in Argentina.
A chair in the spirit of Le Corbusier
Austral developed pioneering projects, discussed the relevant aspects of contemporary architecture, and participated in exhibitions, competitions and conferences. Moreover, the group members were actively seeking international exposure; they exchanged ideas with architects from other countries and published the magazine Nosotros ("Us"). In addition, Austral organized cultural events and included painters, sculptors, musicians, photographers, doctors, sociologists and educators in their work.
Starting in 1937 the office had been charged with the planning works for a university town on the site of the old port of Buenos Aires, residential buildings in the southern part of the city as well as the construction of hospitals, sports facilities and schools along the central avenue Corrientes. At all their works, Ferrari-Hardoy promoted the use of composable industrial elements and employed curved glass panels and sun visors, as evidenced by the Ateliers (1938) at the corner Suipacha and Paraguay. Together with Juan Kurchan he developed from 1941 to 1944 a residential complex in the district of Belgrano. The building became quickly popular because of its implanted tree inside the patio. Together with Bonet and Kurchan, Jorge Ferrari-Hardoy designed the Butterfly Chair in 1938 (hence known as BKF in the Americas). With its extraordinary shape and flexible handling the Butterfly became quickly popular and was already twenty years later considered a true design icon.
With its sculptural design, light weight and exceptional seating comfort the Tripolina is considered the precursor of the Hardoy Butterfly Chair. For the first time presented to the public in 1904 at an exhibition in Saint Louis, the Tripolina Chair became quickly popular among artists, adventurers, and the military.
The chair and an associated camp stool were designed in 1855 by the British industrialist Joseph Beverly Fenby and patented in 1877 in England (1881 in the United States, respectively). The J. B. Fenby Co. first manufactured the design but did not commercialize the chair and went bankrupt by late 1879. After the Tripolina’s appearance at the Saint Louis trade show in 1904, the design was licensed to French and Italian manufacturers and to Gold Medal Inc. in Wisconsin, USA, a company that produced military, camping and resort furniture in the early 20th century. Among others, it was sold at retail by famed outfitting company Abercrombie and Fitch of New York. The Fenby Chair became widely known in Europe as an officer’s chair but also as a safari or beach chair. Popular among the U.S and the British forces, the Fenby Chair was also used by the Italian army in the 1930′s during its campaigns in Lybia where the chair became known as the Tripolina Chair.
Flexible handling, unprecedented comfort, iconic design
The original frames were made of wood and metal with a canvas or leather seat sling. They folded quickly and stored compactly. In addition to its light weight, comfort and portability it was regarded as an early example of design excellence. Notable users of the Tripolina include Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas A. Edison, the renowned wildlife biologist Aldo Leopold, and many officers, safari hunters, explorers, and adventurers worldwide.
WEINBAUMS has refined the original design of the Tripolina Chair and uses for its covering only vegetable tanned leather from Catalonian producers. The frame is manufactured from wood of the Patagonian Cherry; it is foldable and weather resistant.
