Marcel Breuer - Long Chair

                                                                                                        

Designed by Marcel Breuer

Manufactured by Isokon

Marcel Breuer is a Hungarian designer who like other great designers studied and taught at the Bauhaus with expertises in Architecture, furniture and industrial productions. As many of the great designers of the Bauhaus, he amongst others left during the second World War to escape the Nazi regime. Breuer relocated to London where he was employed by Jack Pritchard, a member of the Isokon company which produced the Long chair.

            Breuer in his early career was influenced by tubular steel which lead to the iconic 'Wassily chair' which uses a tubular steel frame and fabric (leather) that wrapped around the frame to form the support for the human body. In his late career however, he was influenced by bent and formed plywood in his furniture design career. The Long chair was design in his later part of his career and produced by Isokon (London). It was at the center of the pre- war modernism movement in Great Britain and introduced modern furniture to the nation. The design illustrated his new found influence with the combination of a bent plywood and fabric (with polyurethane padding). The Form for the Longchair was inspired by the 'Paimio armchair (1931)' design by Alvar Aalto which also features a similar framework to the long chair. The design like the 'wassily chair' also features the form having the ability to see through the design which creates a greater visual space to any interior.

            The primary feature of the design is the plywood frame which is bent into a series of curves to form a structurally strong and also aesthetically pleasing design. The frame expresses comfort and ease which invited the user due to the curvature of the frame and the woollen seat. Plywood is a natural wood which can be bent and also laminated and moulded which was revolutionary in design during pre-war modernism. The process of making the frame was to create a veneer out of the plywood and force this through a steel band mould which is attached to a pressure hose which allows the plywood to bend. Then the plywood is set to cool down and glued to dry which creates this organic frame of the 'long chair.'