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International Style Chairs

INTERNATIONAL STYLE

The International Style, a modernist movement within architecture and furniture design that was given its name by American architect Philip Johnson and historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock, was born during the 1920s and ’30s. It gained steam initially in Europe and then in the United States as a response to the first World War. Building projects associated with the movement, as well as vintage International Style chairs, tables and other furnishings, are minimal and pared back. 

Pioneers of the International Style — architect Walter Gropius and his Bauhaus colleagues Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Marcel Breuer, De Stijl advocate and Dutch architect J.J.P. Oud and visionary designer Le Corbusier — stripped away decorative elements and placed considerable value on functionality and clean lines, integrating the use of industrial materials like steel, concrete and large sheets of glass in their work. Quite aptly, this mode of design and architectural style coincided with an era now known as the Machine Age and became a global symbol of modernism. The primary motive of its practitioners was to address the changing needs of a rapidly industrializing society, especially the demand for office complexes and apartments in large cities, through economical, technologically advanced, yet aesthetically pleasing designs for furniture and buildings. 

“Space and light and order. Those are the things that men need just as much as they need bread or a place to sleep,” said Le Corbusier of the philosophy behind his practical modernist architecture

The International Style’s designers and architects were inspired by the advantages afforded them by the era’s new technology and industrial machinery as well as state-of-the-art materials. Le Corbusier was fond of framing his buildings in steel but reinforced concrete made far more economic sense. He is probably most admired for the iconic private homes and commercial buildings that he designed or codesigned with his cousin Pierre Jeanneret, which are spread across the world, from New York City to Paris to Chandigarh, India. Today, Breuer’s Wassily Lounge chair; the elegant LC series created by Le Corbusier, Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand; and Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair, crafted with his romantic partner, designer Lilly Reich, are emblems of progressive modernist design and all make prominent use of tubular steel. Vintage originals are the prized cornerstone of collections.

“The International Style is probably the first fundamentally original and widely distributed style since the Gothic,” posited Johnson in the book that accompanied “Modern Architecture: International Exhibition,” an architectural show he cocurated with Hitchcock that featured the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Richard Neutra and others. While the term “International Style” had previously been circulating in Europe, when the show opened at the Museum of Modern Art in 1932, it yielded a much broader application of this important style of design. 

Find International Style furniture on 1stDibs.

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Style: International Style
Contemporary Leather Flex Chair
Located in Boston, MA
Charcoal and sand. Structure with strips of solid wood and natural finishing. Natural or faux leather.
Category

2010s Brazilian International Style Chairs

Materials

Stainless Steel

Willy Guhl Loop Chair 1st edition with original wood 1950
Located in Rio De Janeiro, RJ
Incredible original from the 50s Loop Chair by Willy Guhl with wood in the base in perfect conditions. Fantastic.
Category

1950s Brazilian Vintage International Style Chairs

Materials

Concrete

Carlo Hauner brazilian blue and white chair in wood polychromed and iron 1960
Located in Rio De Janeiro, RJ
Incredible Carlo Hauner blue and white chair in wood and iron circa 1950.
Category

1960s Brazilian Vintage International Style Chairs

Materials

Iron

NY Folding Lounge Chair and Ottoman by Takeshi Nii, Japan, c. 1950's
Located in Deland, FL
A permanent part of the collection of MOMA, the ‘NY’ chair is a highly respected example of modern design. First produced in 1958 by Japanese designer Takeshi Nii, the layout of the ...
Category

1960s Japanese Vintage International Style Chairs

Materials

Chrome

Modern Italian Completly Upholstered Hide Leather Chair-Bontempi Casa Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
Designed by Daniele Molteni, Linda chair is part of a whole family of chairs and stools. This Linda chair, with high back, has a metal frame completely upholstered and covered in Blu...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Metal

Modern Italian Wooden Chair from Bontempi Casa Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
Designed by Daniele Molteni, Alfa is a chair with walnut solid wood frame and a characteristic lapel on the back, a chic detail of timeless elegance. The Bontempi Casa solid wood fra...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Cotton, Wood

Modern Italian White Polypropylene Chair from Bontempi Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
This white Polypropylene chair is stackable and suitable for both indoor and outdoor use. Designed by Pocci&Dondoli it is easy, plain, actual. Gipsy chair is a passkey for every envi...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Metal

Modern Italian Eco Leather and Lacquered Metal Chair, Bontempi Casa Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
Designed by Bontempi Casa, Nata chair combines comfort and simple lines. Its frame is in Natural Silver lacquered metal, which is one of Bontempi's special finishes, a selection of f...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Metal

Modern Italian Completly Upholstered Hide Leather Chair-Bontempi Casa Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
Designed by Daniele Molteni, Linda chair is part of a whole family of chairs and stools. This Linda chair, with high back, has a metal frame completely upholstered and covered in Whi...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Metal

Modern Italian Yellow Mustard Polypropylene Chair from Bontempi Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
This yellow Mustard Polypropylene chair is Stackable and suitable for indoor and outdoor use. Designed by Pocci&Dondoli, Galaxy is aesthetics, stre...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Metal

Modern Italian Eco Leather and Lacquered Metal Chair, Bontempi Casa Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
Designed by Bontempi Casa, Nata chair combines comfort and simple lines. Its frame is in Anthracite lacquered metal, which is obtained folding and manufacturing the raw material to a...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Metal

Modern Italian Chair with Metal Frame and Upholstered Seat, Bontempi Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
Designed by Bontempi Casa, Kuga Slim chair represents a modern reinterpretation of a Classic and rigorous seat which, thanks to the comfortable padding, enhances absolute comfort in ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Metal

Modern Italian Chair with Wooden Frame and Upholstered Seat, Bontempi Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
Designed by Bontempi Casa, Margot chair has a contemporary and precious line, enriched with solid wood legs and eco leather seat and back. Its frame is in Walnut solid wood. Bontempi...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Cotton, Faux Leather, Wood

Modern Italian Chair with Metal Frame and Upholstered Seat, Bontempi Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
Designed by Pocci&Dondoli, the Drop chair has folds on the back making it a masterpiece of tailor-making, it gives you the feel of a hug when you are sittin...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Metal

Modern Italian Chair in Metal, Wood and Polypropylene from Bontempi Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
Designed by Studio E-ggs, Polo chair is characterised by solid and welcoming shapes, fluid lines which recall 50s' design, and it is part of a collection of...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Metal

Modern Italian Chair in Lacquered Metal and Polypropylene, Bontempi Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
Designed by Pocci&Dondoli, this is a stackable chair composed of a polypropylene shell with soft and enveloping lines resting on a solid aluminum lacquered metal frame, this finish i...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Metal

Modern Italian Chair in Metal, Wood and Polypropylene from Bontempi Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
Designed by Studio E-ggs, Polo chair is characterised by solid and welcoming shapes, fluid lines which recall 50s' design, and it is part of a collection of...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Metal

Modern Italian White Polypropylene Chair from Bontempi Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
This white polypropylene chair is stackable and suitable for indoor and outdoor use. Designed by Pocci & Dondoli, aqua is suitable for both inside and outside use, it has an integral...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Other

Modern Italian Chair with Wooden Frame and Upholstered Seat, Bontempi Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
Designed by Bontempi Casa, this chair has a seat with a soft shape to create a new timeless classic. The shape of the body is artistically designed and recalls a historical memory up...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Cotton, Wood, Faux Leather

Modern Italian Chair with Wooden Frame and Upholstered Seat, Bontempi Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
Designed by Bontempi Casa, Kuga chair represents a modern reinterpretation of a classic and rigorous seat which, thanks to the comfortable padding, enhances absolute comfort in a per...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Cotton, Faux Leather, Wood

Modern Italian Chair with Wooden Frame and Upholstered Seat, Bontempi Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
Designed by Bontempi Casa, Kuga chair represents a modern reinterpretation of a classic and rigorous seat which, thanks to the comfortable padding, enhances absolute comfort in a per...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Cotton, Wood, Faux Leather

Modern Italian Completly Upholstered Hide Leather Chair-Bontempi Casa Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
Designed by Daniele Molteni, Linda chair is part of a whole family of chairs and stools. This Linda chair, with high back, has a metal frame completely upholstered and covered in Ant...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Metal

Modern Italian Chair with Wooden Frame and Upholstered Seat, Bontempi Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
Designed by Pocci&Dondoli, this chair is part of a family of seats that are rich of fashion and characterised by an elegant design in each detail. The wrinkles of seat and back are s...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Cotton, Faux Leather, Wood

Modern Italian Completly Upholstered Eco Leather Chair-Bontempi Casa Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
Designed by Bontempi Casa, this chair is characterised by a Classic style blended with a modern design resulting in an exceptional mix, giving life to a chair with a sophisticated ch...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Metal

Modern Italian Chair with Wooden Frame and Upholstered Seat, Bontempi Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
Designed by Pocci&Dondoli, the Drop chair has folds on the back making it a masterpiece of tailor-making, it gives you the feel of a hug when you are sitti...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Cotton, Wood, Synthetic

Modern Italian Completly Upholstered Eco Leather Chair-Bontempi Casa Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
Designed by Bontempi Casa, this chair is characterised by a Classic style blended with a modern design resulting in an exceptional mix, giving life to a chair with a sophisticated ch...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Metal

Modern Italian Upholstered Chair from Bontempi Casa Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
Designed by Bontempi Casa, this chair has a seat with a soft shape to create a new timeless classic. The shape of the body is artistically designed and recalls a historical memory up...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Metal, Other

Modern Italian Completly Upholstered Eco Leather Chair-Bontempi Casa Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
Designed by Bontempi Casa, the Nata flex chair boasts great ergonomics and comfort, and improves the time spent sitting thanks to the delicate flexible movement of the back. This cha...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Metal

Modern Italian White Polypropylene Chair from Bontempi Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
This white polypropylene chair is stackable and suitable for indoor and outdoor use. Designed by Pocci&Dondoli, galaxy is aesthetics, strength and functionality. The graphic decorati...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Metal

Modern Italian Light Grey Polypropylene Chair from Bontempi Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
This light grey Polypropylene chair is Stackable and suitable for indoor and outdoor use. Designed by Pocci&Dondoli, Galaxy is aesthetics, strength...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Metal

Modern Italian Completly Upholstered Chair from Bontempi Casa Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
Classic style and modern design blend together in an exceptional mix, giving life to a chair with a sophisticated character that awakens a pleasant nostalgia for the past. The quilte...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Metal

Modern Italian Completly Upholstered Chair from Bontempi Casa Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
Strong character and linearity of the forms for a refined and elegant style. The Malik chair, with the possibility of quilted back, is completly upholstered in light grey eco leather...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Metal

Modern Italian Chair in Lacquered Metal and Polypropylene, Bontempi Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
Designed by Pocci&Dondoli, this is a stackable chair composed of a polypropylene shell with soft and enveloping lines resting on a solid Natural Silver lacquered metal frame, which i...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Metal

Modern Italian Upholstered Chair from Bontempi Casa Collection
Located in Titusville, PA
Kuga represents a modern reinterpretation of a classic and rigorous seat which, thanks to the comfortable padding, enhances absolute comfort in a perfect stylistic balance. This Chai...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Metal

Pr. Cube Form Club Chairs by Charles Pfister for Knoll
Located in New York, NY
Chic pair of leather club chairs designed by Charles Pfister for Knoll. Executed in grayish blue leather, close to a slate blue in tone. Chairs are matching in color, they appear different in the pictures as a result of uneven lighting. The chairs are in very good, original condition, showing only light cosmetic wear, normal and consistent with age. Priced and offered as a pair, please view the matching loveseat we have listed separately at Barbarella Home...
Category

Late 20th Century American International Style Chairs

Materials

Leather

Functional Art Chair / Throne "'Spring Swab" by Lionel Jadot
Located in Antwerp, BE
Collectible design / Functional art, Lionel Jadot for Everyday Gallery, Belgium 2020 Born in Brussels in 1969, Lionel Jadot is an interior designer, artist, designer, filmmaker, adventurer. But all at once, preferably. Lionel Jadot is firing on all cylinders. ‘I never throw anything, I pick up everything. Not having a green thumb, I’m trying cuttings, weddings against nature. I never forget a line.’ He’s inviting us in subtle, off-beat worlds, on the edge of reality. Its material is made of dilated time. A wandering spirit, he seeks a protective balance in a hostile world. It is his constant questioning: what happens to the place where we live? For Lionel Jadot, everything is object, everything is history. He draws from other places, other times, and seeks what’s linking them. He sews, stitches, unpicks, blends materials, combines eras. He will enshrine some wood essence in metal, some mineral in a plant, the old in the new. ‘I take extra care to the joint between two materials.’ With him, there is always some play in the parts, as in a piece of machinery. From a kingdom to another, he provokes organic, viral growths, generating energy. Linking past and future, he never forgets a line. ‘I accumulate them.’ He’s inviting us in subtle worlds, off-beat, on the edge of reality. Are we in 1930 or in 2030? Both, no doubt. Its material is made of dilated time. The eye goes hand in hand with the ear. ‘When I walk into a place, I listen to the good (or bad) it does to me. An ineffable feeling.’ He recreates mutant buildings, like the future Royal Botanique, a 5 stars hotel housed in the Church of the Gesu, a former convent behind a 1940 façade. He talks about a ‘hotel object’, which he holds and turns around in his hand. A wandering spirit, he’s flirting with retro-futurism. The Jam, another hotel, is intended for urban travelers, fans of swiftness, fluidity and hospitality. He designs interiors as a set of objects: a motorcycle cut in concrete becomes a bar counter. He finds gothic cartoon echoes, from the likes of Moebius, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Enki Bilal, sets from Garage Hermétique and Blade Runner, a protective balance in a hostile world. Discovering Jadot’s little cosmos of collected and accumulated goods, it becomes clear that every element has its own story. I tried to collect them and in turn, devour them in the coming paragraphs. But first: the show is best experienced seated, barring the distinction between object of use and object of attention, they invite for different types of conversation. The seats, chairs, thrones all make us think of our own physical comportment, and of how the seat lends grandeur to the person sitting on it, by crowning its presence. The crackling floor, the felt walls and the diffuse light slow you down into an oddly absorbing environment, in which you are left puzzled. In the eclectic collages of objects, bits and pieces collected all over the world come together in ways practical, and logical, though possibly only in the artist’s mind. All his finds eventually seem to fall into place. Starting with the mere conception of a chair, rather than with a set-out plan or sketch, the works are intuitively construed out of an archive that one can only imagine the dimensions of. Things forgotten by others, precious for him, were all once designed for their own purpose. Here they find their fit as a base, a closing system or a balancing element. The first piece that opens the exhibition, the most throne-like of all seats in the show, builds around a chair of his grandmother, protected by mops, and harassed with bed springs. As you enter the space, you pass by a shell leaning over a yellow seat that stems from his old Mustang, and find a white stool piece with Mexican leather dog training whips— the white building blocks of which turn out to be dried molding material, as found and broken out of a bucket by workers every morning. Further, the stone piece that reminds one of the stone age, is indeed made of 400 million old rocks, and the soft seats are lent from construction, where these strokes of textile carry up the heaviest goods. In the corner — but as you walk this walk please be seated on any of the thrones and experience the work for a moment— the green fluffy cover is made by XXXX who remakes cartographies of warzones, one of which is here mounted on a flexible fishing chair. On an experience level, the conversation chair enhances self-confidence, while putting you literally in a good spot with the person you’re conversing with. The lamp perfectly shows the playful Cadavre Exquis...
Category

2010s Belgian International Style Chairs

Materials

Metal

Chaise en Tube Métallique
Located in PARIS, FR
Chaise en tube métallique cintré et chromé formant les accoudoirs et traversant l'assise en métal à maille carrée reposant sur quatre pieds laqués. Deux pieds carrés noirs à l'arri...
Category

Mid-20th Century International Style Chairs

Materials

Metal

Mattia Biagi, "Sit on My Face", Chair, 2022
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The “Sit On My Face” chair sculpture and the "Light Up My Face" sconce reveal the artist's intimate investigation of life and death, nature and civilizatio...
Category

2010s American International Style Chairs

Materials

Carrara Marble

Five Italian Side Chairs
Located in New York, NY
Side chair from the 1930s with early example of plywood seat. Chairs can be sold separately. $1500.00 per chair.
Category

20th Century Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Plywood

Contemporary Matias Sagaria Velvet Dining Room Chair Metal Italian Walnut Black
Located in San Polo, Parma
Culaccino is a sculptural chair, designed by Studio Sagaría. Culaccino in chair in an irreverent take on geometry, proportions and colors. It is coming from a complex, coherent a...
Category

2010s Italian International Style Chairs

Materials

Metal

Take a Seat, International Style Chair, Dining Chair, Office Chair
Located in İstanbul, İstanbul
Designed for whom to write their own Tabula Rasa in comfort and style. Take a seat is one of the chair interpretations of Kontra which consists a solid wa...
Category

2010s Turkish International Style Chairs

Materials

Leather, Oak, Walnut

Take a Seat, International Style Chair, Dining Chair, Office Chair
Located in İstanbul, İstanbul
Designed for whom to write their own Tabula Rasa in comfort and style. Take a seat is one of the chair interpretations of Kontra which consists a solid wal...
Category

2010s Turkish International Style Chairs

Materials

Leather, Oak, Walnut

International Style chairs for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a broad range of unique International Style chairs for sale on 1stDibs. Many of these items were first offered in the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artisans have continued to produce works inspired by this style. If you’re looking to add vintage chairs created in this style to your space, the works available on 1stDibs include seating and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with metal, fabric and other materials. If you’re shopping for used International Style chairs made in a specific country, there are Europe, Italy, and North America pieces for sale on 1stDibs. While there are many designers and brands associated with original chairs, popular names associated with this style include Bontempi Casa, Alexander Diaz Andersson, ATRA, and kontra. It’s true that these talented designers have at times inspired knockoffs, but our experienced specialists have partnered with only top vetted sellers to offer authentic pieces that come with a buyer protection guarantee. Prices for chairs differ depending upon multiple factors, including designer, materials, construction methods, condition and provenance. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $209 and tops out at $60,000 while the average work can sell for $991.

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