The decision of the jury was not easy: more than 300 images from 19 countries had to be judged and brought into a sequence. Remarkable is the variety and the quality of the submissions, also the stories behind are very exciting and emotional. For this reason we have decided to honor 16 additional images to the 20 winners with a „special mention“. Thank you very much for your contribution and congratulations to all the winners.

» Please find all images selected in the gallery.

214: It is often called the chair of all chairs – and rightfully so. No other chair has ever been reproduced as many times. To date, more than 50 million copies have been made. And Thonet is still producing it following the original well-tried and proven principles.

It is an unparalleled success story. The basis for the chair was a new technique that enabled the bending of solid wood. Michael Thonet perfected the process during the 1850s and thus introduced serial production. And there was an ingenious distribution concept as well. 36 disassembled chairs could be packed in a single box and sent anywhere in the world. They were assembled on site – in Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa. Therefore, Thonet is considered a pioneer of industrial design, and chair no. 14, today 214, is considered the most successful industrial product in the world.