the bauhaus turns 100 and THONET celebrates with a limited edition chair by besau marguerre

earlier this year, designboom joined THONET to visit the bauhaus — the legendary cultural institution with a surprising present-day relevance — to discover how together they forged a totally different design aesthetic. today, 100 years after the foundation of the school, THONET celebrates the occasion with a limited anniversary edition of the famous cantilever chair S 533 F by ludwig mies van der rohe.

designed by hamburg-based duo besau marguerre, the anniversary edition sees two new versions of the THONET S 533 F chair with armrests — one with a frame in smoked chrome and anthracite leather, and the other in champagne chrome with leather in soft rose. ‘the intentional restraint in the use of materials, the elegance of the lines and transparency in effect as the characteristic of the S 533 tempted us to pick up mies van der rohe’s motto ‘less is more’ and to establish a contrast between the objectivity and softness,’ comments eva marguerre on the studio’s design approach.

resulting in a mix between the bauhaus objectivity and a warm and haptic look-and-feel, the two complimentary pieces owe their seating comfort to their constant supple flexing. this effect is borrowed from mies van der rohe’s original chair that features the front of the tubular steel frame as a large arch made of hardened tubular spring steel, allowing it to adjust to the free movement of its users due to its flexing power.

‘working with such a striking design was an extremely exciting challenge for us. while most designs from the 1920s were rather simple and function, this chair clearly reveals the architect’s signature: here, mies combines functionality and comfort with timeless aesthetics – and that’s precisely what we wanted to bring into the present. the adaptability of the bauhaus classic was striking to us, and it quickly became clear that the s 533 f deserved more than just one reinterpretation. so we came up with the idea for this duo,’ says marcel besau.