(b) Contextual Essay
Marcel Lajos Breuer (1902 – 1981) was a Hungarian modernist designer, who had studied and taught at the Bauhaus during the 1920’s, he later worked with Jack Pritchard under the Isokon company, this further helped in establishing his designs specifically his Long Chair, this was accomplished through the use of bending plywood and experimenting with the material itself.
His early career was majorly involving the use of tubular steel, which is used in another one of his works the ‘Wassily Chair’, he had shifted to different materials later which lead to the use of plywood which then continued to the creation of the Long Chair. He was influenced through modular construction of items and also its simplicity; this was later part of his inspiration of Alvar Aalto’s Paimio Armchair which is part of the styling towards his Long Chair.
The Long Chair is considered one of the most important pieces of furniture, especially through its simple form and structure which is not only strong but visually appealing. The frame itself is of simple construction and yet expresses a form which carved itself into modernist ideals, this revolutionised a more organic styling of the plywood and transferred the ideas of modernism into the chairs form.
The design is very inter-war modernist in principle, and had given a representation of every element in the design principles during that period, the material usage and the use of experimental materials had given this chair its unique characteristic, this is seen not just through its materials but also its manufacturing processes which would have been just as experimental in the time.
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