209 BENTWOOD ARMCHAIR, 1900
By Gebrüder Thonet (now Thonet)
An evolution of the company’s earlier 214 chair, no. 209 is made from just six steam-bent solid wood parts, making it a masterpiece of engineering and enabling it to be produced economically at scale. Its curves have influenced countless designers, including Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, who used it in several of his buildings and remarked that the chair ‘possesses nobility’.
1. RED AND BLUE CHAIR, 1918
By Gerrit Rietveld; manufactured by Cassina
Red and Blue chair blurs the lines between art and furniture. A member of the Dutch De Stijl movement, Gerrit broke away from traditional design, creating a new style of construction with non-intersecting horizontal and vertical planes.
