Into The World Of Steam Bending: Chair No. 14 and The Long Chair

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Theme: The difference in the production techniques depending on the purpose of the two chairs while being of the same material.

The No. 14 chair is the most famous chair made by the Thonet chair company in the year 1859. Also known as the ‘bistro chair’. The design was a response to a requirement for cafe-style chairs. The seat was often made of woven cane or palm because the holes in the seat would let spilled liquid drain off the chair. (Alice,2008). The long chair was designed by Marcel Breuer in the year 1935-36, with the initiative of rising in modernism. This design focused on the user’s ease and comfortness. A comparative study of the long chair and chair no 14, looking at the differences and similarities such as texture, material, and production methods, the following discussions are made. The material bentwood was used for the revolutionary change for both the chairs and the designers.

Thonet’s chair is more like the usual chair whereas the Long chair is a reclining chair. The production techniques changed vastly for both the chairs being from completely different eras. For the Thonet’s chair, using both heat and moisture makes the wood(ash and beech preferably since they do not crack easily) flexible enough to set into the desired shape. It pretty much works like clay and gets hardened in due course.” (Kathy, 2014). While the long chair ranks as one of the highlights of interwar modernism, its use of molded plywood anticipates the direction of post-WWII furniture design and manufacture. (V&A explore the collections. Victoria and Albert Museum. (n.d.).)” The ‘Long chair’, with its bent frame of laminated birch wood supporting the shaped timber seat and back, was developed soon after Marcel Breuer settled in England in 1935.”(‘Long chair’ by Marcel Breuer. (n.d.).). It is made using bentwood (steam-bending), (Murphy, 2019).

Thonet’s design was suitable as best for the cafe-style chairs. The seat was made of woven cane or palm because the holes in the seat would let dribbled liquid drain off the chair. Whereas Breuer’s design of the Long Chair spreads a person’s weight across a larger area than a regular chair, giving greater comfort.(Isokon long chair — Isokon. (n.d.). The freeform

Fig 1. Chair No. 14, Michael Thonet (1859) Fig 2. The Long Chair Marcel Breuer (1936)

Bibliography

Alice Rawsthorn. (7, November 2008). No. 14: The chair that has seated millions. International Herald Tribune. http://www.iht. com/articles/2008/11/10/style/ design10.php

Borsani, O. (n.d.). Antique Model No. 14 Chair from Thonet, 1860s for sale at Pamono. Pamono. https://www.pamono.eu/antiquemodel-no-14-chair-from-thonet1860s

Breuer, Marcel. “Chaise Longue | The Art Institute of Chicago.” Art Institute of Chicago, https://www. artic.edu/artworks/229884/chaiselongue.

Breuer, Marcel. “‘Long Chair’ by Marcel Breuer.” MAAS Collection, https://collection.maas.museum/ object/167934.

Cole, F. (2020, March 20), The Thonet Chair: How the humblest of chair designs became the hardestworking furniture in film. Film and Furniture. https://filmandfurniture. com/2020/03/the-thonet-chairhow-the-humblest-of-chairdesigns-became-the-hardestworking-furniture-in-film/

Englund, M. (2018)., Isokon Furnitures- Modernist Dreams in Plywood, Documentation Issues docomomo 58 – 2018/1, Docomomo International. DocomomoJournal58_2018_ MEnglund.pdf https://www.docomomo.com/ wp-content/uploads/2019/04/ DocomomoJournal58_2018_ MEnglund.pdf curve of the seat and back is both an expression of the free will of the artist and a masterly deployment of the elasticity of the material. (Bent matter. (n.d.). Bent Matter).

Thonet believed in the mass manufacture of quality furniture, on a production line, using semi and unskilled workers. The Thonet Company manufactured for a world market and fifty million No 14 Chairs were sold before 1930. Marcel Breuer was influenced by nature, unlike other furniture of the same period with materials such as tubular steels, which were relatively modern at that time. His design approach was to create something that is both functional and which also connects man and nature.

In The Long Chair, the head is rested separately so are the shoulders and back and the legs and therefore each body part rests for itself. One will have an amazing impression of the principle of Archimedes without being in the water. ( Hewitt, n.d.). The experimental nature of plywood as a new material for furniture making, saw the ‘Long chair’ undergo several modifications over time for strength and durability.(Marcel Breuer chaise longue long chair mid Century1970s Bauhaus Isokon. (2021, September 9).

Though made up from the same material the purposes it serves are different. Studying two chairs clearly illustrates the main purpose of each chair; the Long chair with its graceful design focuses on comfort and luxury whereas the Thonet chair with its decent design aimed at mass production, with the rise in industrialization in the post-world war period.

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Harwood, B. R. (2011). Two Early Thonet Imitators in the United States: The Henry I. Seymour Chair Manufactory and the American Chair-Seat Company. Studies in the Decorative Arts https://www. journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/ studdecoarts.2.1.40662528

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Keulemans. (2016, March 10). Beech eating machine.A new materialist critique of the Thonet no. 14 chairBlucher Design Proceedings. Blucher Design Proceedings https://www. proceedings.blucher.com.br/articledetails/beech-eating-machine-anew-materialist-critique-of-thethonet-no-14-chair-24216 Long chair (Estonia). (n.d.). Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/ objects/51681337/

Long chair. (n.d). V&A explore the collections. Victoria and Albert museum. https://collections.vam.ac.uk/ item/O22774/reclining-chair-longchair/long-chair-reclining-chair-breuer/

MacCarthy, F. (n.d).Isokon long chair, Marcel Breuer. (2021, May 21). Sainsbury Centre. https://www.sainsburycentre.ac.uk/ art-and-objects/isokon-long-chairmarcel-breuer/

Marcel Breuer chaise longue long chair mid Century 1970s Bauhaus Isokon. (2021, Septembe9). https://www.vinterior.co/furniture/ seating/lounge-chairs/marcel-breuerchaise-longue-long-chair-midcentury1970-s-bauhaus-isokon Marcel Breuer long chair chaise lounge Attr. to Isokon, C 1970 Bauhaus Midcent for sale at 1stDibs. (n.d.). 1stDibs: Antique and Modern Furniture, Jewelry, Fashion & Art. https://www.1stdibs.com/en-gb/ furniture/seating/chaise-longues/ marcel-breuer-long-chair-chaiselounge-attr-to-isokon-c-1970-bauhausmidcent/id-f_24583582/

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Murphy, A. (2019, November 5). The Chair Men,Gebrüder Thonet and the Number 14 Chair,Europeana https://www.europeana.eu/en/blog/thechair-men-gebruder-thonet-and-thenumber-14-chair

No. 14 chair. (2021, October 31), Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/No._14_chair Ritz, J. (2019, December 16), Thonet and its bestselling no. 14 chairs get a major retrospective. Architectural digest. https://www.architecturaldigest. com/story/thonet-and-itsbestselling-no-14-chair-get-amajor-retrospective

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| M21E2.5 & E2.7 | Concept Note and Working Bibliography

E2.9Presentations Reading, Writing, Making Sense

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