Chair S33

Thonet cantilever chair S33

A cubic shape, a clear silhouette, fine proportions, a swinging movement: the cantilever chairs S 33 and S 34, which have been perfected through evolution and are among the first of their kind, today combine the spirit of the times and a sense of tradition. “Why four legs when two are enough?” wrote the artist Kurt Schwitters in 1927 when he saw the first cantilever chairs in furniture history.

The two chairs S 33 and S 34 caused a stir at the Werkbund exhibition that opened in 1927 at the Weissenhof in Stuttgart. As early as 1925, Mart Stam had experimented with thin gas pipes, the corners of which he initially connected with flanges like those used by plumbers.

To go one step further, Stam created the principle of cantilever chairs that no longer stood on four legs - a construction principle that, through its formal restraint, became an important element in the history of modern furniture design. His cantilever chairs S 33 and S 34 were more than just furnishings with a simple design, they were part of a revolutionary overall concept for a new understanding of architecture and life.