
Wassily Lounge Chair
Inspired by bicycle handlebars, the Wassily chair is one of Marcel Breuer’s (1902–81) greatest achievements. Even though the tubular metal chair looked like an artifact from the future when the Hungarian designer and architect conceived it in 1925, Breuer could not have foreseen the significant impact that this would have on modern design.
From 1920–28, Breuer studied and then taught at the Bauhaus school of design, where he found a kindred spirit in Walter Gropius, who invited Breuer back as junior master of the carpentry workshop. After less than a year in his new role, Breuer produced his revolutionary chair, which is among the first furniture designs to feature bent tubular steel.
Breuer called the Wassily his “most extreme work” because the pared-down design didn’t look comfortable. It’s true: Take an everyday club chair — the Wassily’s technical name was the model B3 club chair — and toss the cushions and you’d have something like Breuer’s design. The lightweight and mass-produced tubular-steel handlebars of the maker’s bicycle made him wonder if he could achieve something similar with bent-steel furniture. The resulting mid-1920s-era chair, the seat of which was made of a durable canvas developed by Bauhaus student Margaretha Reichardt, was named the Wassily after painter and fellow Bauhaus colleague Vasily “Wassily” Kandinsky expressed admiration for the piece. Today, Knoll manufactures the Wassily chair.
Wassily Lounge Chair
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Leather
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Leather
Vintage 1980s Italian Bauhaus Club Chairs
Steel, Chrome
Mid-20th Century European Chairs
Steel, Chrome
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Metal, Chrome
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Metal
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Metal
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Steel
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Chrome
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Stainless Steel
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Steel
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Chrome
Mid-20th Century American Bauhaus Armchairs
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Steel
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Chrome
Vintage 1960s German Chairs
Iron
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Chrome
Vintage 1960s Italian Modern Chairs
Leather
Vintage 1920s German Bauhaus Lounge Chairs
Steel, Chrome
Late 20th Century Unknown International Style Lounge Chairs
Canvas
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Steel
Vintage 1920s German Bauhaus Lounge Chairs
Steel, Chrome
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Steel
Early 20th Century Spanish Bauhaus Lounge Chairs
Chrome
Vintage 1960s American Bauhaus Lounge Chairs
Steel
Late 20th Century German Bauhaus Armchairs
Steel
Mid-20th Century Italian Bauhaus Chairs
Steel
Vintage 1920s American Bauhaus Armchairs
Chrome
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Steel
Mid-20th Century Italian Bauhaus Lounge Chairs
Chrome


