The Wassily Chair

In an occasional series of blog posts to mark our 50th Anniversary, we are highlighting some of the iconic masterpieces of 20th Century design that were first introduced to the UK market by Aram Designs.

Wassily Chair

Designed by Marcel Breuer in 1925

Introduced to the UK market by Aram Designs in 1964

Marcel Breuer (1902-1981) is best known as one of the early 20th century's most influential furniture designers.  In 1925, when Walter Gropius invited him to run the furniture workshop at the new Bauhaus in Weimar, one of his first projects was the B3 ‘Steel Club Chair’ (later re-named the ‘Wassily’ after his colleague at the Bauhaus, Wassily Kandinsky) made from extruded, nickel -plated tubular steel.  Unusually light and easy to assemble from ready-made steel tubes; the chair was the result of Breuer's years of experiments with bending steel and was immediately hailed as an important breakthrough in furniture design. "I thought that this out of all my work would earn me the most criticism," he noted, "but the opposite of what I expected came true."

Today, the genuine authorised Wassily Chair is made by Knoll International. The steel frame of each chair is stamped with Breuer's signature and the KnollStudio logo. The slings are available in natural canvas, haired hide or belting leather in a variety of colours.

Myles Brown