S 32 V Tubular Steel Classic Cantilever Thonet

Innovative: S 32 V tubular steel classic cantilever chair from Thonet

Whether uncompromisingly modern furnishings or a versatile mix - the S 32 cantilever chair from Thonet is at home in many design worlds. The cantilever chair is one of the best-known tubular steel classics. The seat and backrest made of curved solid wood with wickerwork stand for tradition, while the innovative frame represents the present and the future. The S 32 and S 64 were designed by Marcel Breuer in Berlin in 1928. Thonet has been producing them since 1930.

Designer Marcel Breuer

Marcel Breuer completed an apprenticeship as a carpenter at the Bauhaus Weimar from 1920 to 1924. There he took over the management of the carpentry workshop in 1925. What began as a private project soon became part of Bauhaus Dessau: his groundbreaking tubular steel furniture designs. Breuer left the Bauhaus in 1928 and sought closer contact with industry, including Thonet. He settled in Berlin as an architect and worked primarily in the field of interior design before working for Thonet for several years. In 1930/31 he created a comprehensive collection of tubular steel. Breuer left Germany via Budapest, London and finally landed in the USA in 1937. At this time he developed plywood and aluminium furniture. Through Walter Gropius, Breuer became a lecturer and later even professor of architecture at Harvard University in Cambridge. From 1941 he and Gropius jointly ran an architecture studio. Breuer is regarded as one of the most central figures in the history of architecture and design.

Thonet - 200 years of tradition

The Frankenberg-based manufacturer stands for durability and an irrepressible drive for innovation. Thonet was the first manufacturer to market bentwood furniture and distribute tubular steel furniture. Michael Thonet founded his own workshop in Boppard am Rhein in 1819. In the 1830s, he experimented with veneer strips cooked in glue and is therefore regarded as the inventor of "furniture made of curved wood". In 1842 he was invited to Vienna by the Austrian State Chancellor Prince Metternich and the coffee house culture there laid the foundation for Thonet's later success. Given this willingness to innovate, it is not surprising that Thonet also cultivated links with the Bauhaus and Marcel Breuer. Thonet, for example, implemented his experiments with cold-bent steel tubing and produced the well-known cantilever chairs.

Material and size

The S 32 V cantilever chair consists of chrome-plated tubular steel, stained beech wood and a seat and backrest of tubular wickerwork with plastic support fabric under the tubular wickerwork. It is 46 cm wide, 60 cm deep and 82 cm high. The seat height is 45 cm.