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While renowned furniture company e15 was named for the London postcode district where it opened its first workshop in 1995, the now Frankfurt-based brand has grown to become one of the most celebrated German manufacturers and a premium option for modern, solid-wood furniture across much of Europe.

In 1995, German-born architect and designer Philipp Mainzer founded e15 with Farah Ebrahimi, who currently serves as the company’s head designer and art director. After majoring in product design at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and architecture at the Architectural Association, Mainzer had what he has called “a gut feeling” to produce wooden furniture to counter the cold aluminum and glass structures that were popular at the time. E15 became a vessel for Mainzer to explore contemporary design with a somewhat minimalist profile and to highlight the natural characteristics of quality materials, especially oak, as seen in Mainzer’s Backen­zahn stool.

Setting e15 apart is its unrelenting passion for sustainability. Many of e15’s talented collaborators pride themselves on this philosophy, including British architect David Chipperfield, German industrial designer Stefan Diez and Danish architect and interior designer David Thulstrup. 

Many of the company’s designs have earned awards and have been exhibited extensively in Germany, such as Chipperfield’s Leighton coffee table at the 2016 IMM Cologne furniture show. Mainzer and Ebrahimi won two prizes for separate modular sofas: the SHIRAZ sofa received the 2008 Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany and the KERMAN took home the gold for Interior Innovation in 2017. Select e15 pieces can also be found in museum collections worldwide. 

On 1stDibs, find e15 tables, seating and storage case pieces.

The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw sweeping social change and major scientific advances — both of which contributed to a new aesthetic: modernism. Rejecting the rigidity of Victorian artistic conventions, modernists sought a new means of expression. References to the natural world and ornate classical embellishments gave way to the sleek simplicity of the Machine Age. Architect Philip Johnson characterized the hallmarks of modernism as “machine-like simplicity, smoothness or surface [and] avoidance of ornament.”

Early practitioners of modernist design include the De Stijl (“The Style”) group, founded in the Netherlands in 1917, and the Bauhaus School, founded two years later in Germany.

Followers of both groups produced sleek, spare designs — many of which became icons of daily life in the 20th century. The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics. While Bauhaus principals Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe created furniture from mass-produced, chrome-plated steel, American visionaries like Charles and Ray Eames worked in materials as novel as molded plywood and fiberglass. Today, Breuer’s Wassily chair, Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair — crafted with his romantic partner, designer Lilly Reich — and the Eames lounge chair are emblems of progressive design and vintage originals are prized cornerstones of collections.

It’s difficult to overstate the influence that modernism continues to wield over designers and architects — and equally difficult to overstate how revolutionary it was when it first appeared a century ago. But because modernist furniture designs are so simple, they can blend in seamlessly with just about any type of décor. Don’t overlook them.

Don’t underestimate a good bench — antique and vintage benches are storage pieces, stylish accents and statement-making additional seating.

Today, benches are a great option to maximize seating in your house and outdoor space. The perfect option to create a warm, welcoming atmosphere in foyers and entryways, benches can also transform dining areas, making it possible to host a hungry family with limited space. Whether you’re sprucing up your entertaining with upholstered Empire-style benches or adding more options to a dining room that’s seen a farmhouse makeover, this humble furnishing has only become more versatile over the years. Designers have recognized the demand for a good bench, crafting the convenient seating alternative from a range of materials, including wood, iron and even concrete.

Mid-century modern benches from George Nakashima, Charlotte Perriand and the pared-down Platform bench by George Nelson for Herman Miller are classics of innovation, but maybe you’re looking for an unconventional design approach to your home's seating. Opt for something totally outside the box — an antique pine church-pew bench paired with a vintage wool throw and stationed under the mounted coatrack in your mudroom is a distinctive touch.

For your outdoor oasis, a wrought-iron patio bench is the obvious choice but not the only option. An enclosed back patio would do well to inherit a rattan bench with cushions, but it can be susceptible to weathering and should be covered or moved indoors when not in use.

Whatever your seating arrangement needs are, find vintage, new and antique benches for every space on 1stDibs.