January 2004

A masterpiece from 1926: the S 33 and S 34 by Mart Stam

Thonet offering the classic cantilevered chair by Mart Stam in classic leather oder modern mesh fabric.

Looking just as fresh today as it did when it was designed by Dutch architect Mart Stam back in 1926, the S 33 cantilevered chair (with armrest: S 34) isnow available not only in the classic leather edition, but also with seat andback in a modern mesh material. This new material allows the chair to be produced at an attractive price-performance ratio, making the much-copied original more affordable.

Free-swinging instead of anchored on four legs: a new type of chair
makes history. In 1926, the Dutch architect and Bauhaus teacher Mart
Stam began experimenting with gas pipes and bent metal, and used them to develop the principle of a cantilevered chair that no longer needed fourlegs for stability – a fi rst in the history of furniture. When he presented his groundbreaking chair without back legs to the public in 1927, at the opening of the Weissenhof development in Stuttgart, he launched a construction principle that, against the background of the formal restraint called for by the Bauhaus and modern architectural theory, would play an important role in the history of modern furniture design. Stam was not interested at first in the flexible, springy effect of cold-bent steel tubing, but was aiming instead for a sleek, functional form that could be integrated perfectly into the modern buildings of the era.

The technological innovation of cold-bent steel inspired other designers as well. In the 1920s, many furniture designers came out with their own versionsof the novel cantilevered chair: including the American Harry E. Nolan, Miesvan der Rohe, who patented his own cantilever model in 1927, as well as Marcel Breuer, who had been experimenting with tubular steel since 1925 and who once predicted while working with the new material that it would be like sitting “on an elastic column of air”.

A protracted battle for patents and copyrights to the new technique soon broke out. In 1932, Mart Stam was assigned the artistic copyright for his strictly cubic chair without back legs (which was confi rmed in 1961). This decision was based less on the principle of the free-swinging springiness than on the chair’s form. Nevertheless, the principle of the cantilevered chair later became popular in many languages under the term “free-swinger”.

Simplicity plus elegance: The S 33 and S 34: In all of his functional chair designs of that era, Mart Stam relied on streamlined form, aesthetic economy of construction and the benefit of improved seating comfort: the cushioning, rocking effect afforded by the S 33 and S 34 eliminated the need for elaborate upholstery. In the 1930s, the seat and back of the chair were made of leather or a sturdy fabric called “Eisengarn”. With their reserved form, these two chair models became exemplary designs embodying the modern spirit. They also represent the effort to bring fine design to contemporary industrial culture, anaspiration that characterizes the entire history of the Thonet company. The S 33 and S 34 – which are both still produced by Thonet true to the original design – are available in classic leather and, as S 33 N and S 34 N, have also recently been introduced with a new mesh seat and back (made of a synthetic woven material). The armrest of the S 34 N is available either in wood orelastomer. As the successor of the original “Eisengarn” version, the new mesh comes close as possible to the idea of “ sitting on an elastic column of air”.

Mart Stam

development in Stuttgart – both as architect and as designer experimenting Mart Stam, born 1899 in the Dutch town of Purmerend, was one of the key architects of the modern movement and a pioneer of modern furniture design. In1927, he made a ground breaking architectonic contribution to the Weissenhof with tubular steel. In 1928 and 1929, he worked as an architect in Frankfurt am Main, where his projects included the construction of the Hellerhof development. During those same years, he also taught as guest lecturer at the Bauhaus, giving talks on the fundamentals of architecture and urban development. From 1930 to 1934, Mart Stam worked in Russia and other countries; there after he practiced architecture in Amsterdam until 1948. In 1939, he became the director of the School of Arts and Crafts in Amsterdam. In 1950, he took up adirectorship at the University of Applied Arts in Berlin-Weissensee. In 1953 he returned to Amsterdam. In 1977, he settled in Switzerland, where he passed away on 23 February 1986 in Goldach.