After the whole world celebrated the Bauhaus centenary in 2019, Thonet is more in the spotlight than ever. The long-established German company's famous tubular steel furniture emerged as a design innovation of the Bauhaus era and is now an essential part of design history.
Combining traditional craftsmanship with state-of-the-art technology, these design icons are made at the factory in Frankenberg in Germany in several carefully planned production steps. We take a look behind the scenes, introduce you to the distinctive manufacturing process and present the latest designs.
The history of tubular steel furniture
The history of tubular steel furniture, so typical of the Bauhaus, goes back to the 1920s. Driven by Expressionism and the Dutch De Stijl movement, a number of designers, architects and craftspeople began searching for new techniques and forms and experimenting with tubular steel.
Even then, the family business Thonet was known worldwide for its versatile bentwood furniture and quickly became a partner for designers working with the new materials and forms – at exactly the right time.
In the mid-1920s, during a short period of stability after the political upheavals and hyperinflation had been overcome, many housing estates were built in Germany as examples of the "Neues Bauen" (New Building) movement.
And they needed the right furniture. The traditional, heavy and ornate furnishings of the pre-war period gave way to more modern design – above all the groundbreaking tubular steel chairs, some without back legs, by pioneers such as Marcel Breuer, Mart Stam and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
To this day, tubular steel furniture remains highly significant as a hallmark of a new style of living that follows the aesthetic principle of simplicity. It has always been – and still is – subject to changing trends, and Thonet continues to develop it.
Thonet's traditional production methods
Once dismissed by critics as cold and unhomely, tubular steel furniture is now made up of legendary design icons that find a place in interiors of all styles.
Today, Thonet makes these classics by hand combined with state-of-the-art technology. Its staff have specialist know-how that has been built up and continually refined over the company's long history.
That's why, now as then, the result is innovative products defined by the highest quality and a timeless design language – which makes them particularly durable.
From processing the tubular steel to colouring and upholstery, every Thonet design piece requires several production steps. Each design is based on a well thought-out concept and tells its own story.
Design classics reinterpreted
Today, though, Thonet stands for much more than the classics of the Bauhaus era. The label, one of Germany's oldest family-run companies, has realigned itself and now comes across as fresher and bolder. Moving with the times, the manufacturer is breaking new ground – without forgetting its roots, of course. Its latest designs prove it.
The classic S64, for example, adapts to modern, flexible ways of working in a mobile version with a five-star base on castors. The cantilever chair impresses in indoor and outdoor versions in an extravagant tomato red, and the classic café chair also shows a bold sense of colour in the "Two-Tone" special edition.
Photos: Thonet GmbH
