The Bicycle and the Chair
How Breuer's observation of a handlebar changed furniture forever
Material Logic1925 · 8 min read
GESTALT
Workshop · Tubular Steel · Since 1925
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Workshop
Tubular steel bends into chairs that have outlived every trend since 1925.
Each joint is brazed by hand. Each curve is calculated to the millimeter. The workshop produces furniture for interior architects furnishing mid-century restorations, for design collectors hunting production-numbered originals, and for university departments outfitting studios where students will learn by sitting in the canon.
Dessau · One room · One material
Edition 1 of 60
No. 001
Model B3 — Wassily
1925The first chair to strip the object to its mechanical logic. Breuer observed the bicycle handlebar — the tube as structural member, not skin. The canvas planes float independent of the frame, each held by a single bolt. Nothing decorates. Everything works.
MaterialCold-drawn seamless steel tube, 20mm diameter. Eisengarn canvas, black.
DimensionsH 73 · W 77 · D 69 cm
Year1925
EditionEdition 1 of 60
Edition 1 of 45
No. 002
Model S32 — Cantilever
1927Mies removed the rear legs and trusted the spring of steel. The chair is a continuous loop of tube from floor to back; the sitter is suspended in the curve's memory. Cane weave acknowledges the hand that made it. Chrome acknowledges the age that dreamed it.
MaterialChrome-plated steel tube, 22mm diameter. Woven cane seat and back.
DimensionsH 80 · W 55 · D 62 cm
Year1927
EditionEdition 1 of 45
Edition 1 of 80
No. 003
Model D4 — Folding
1928The folding chair as manifesto: the object that earns its place by disappearing when not needed. Four tubes, two pivots, one canvas. The geometry of the open position is identical to the geometry of the closed — the chair is the same object in two states of time.
MaterialNickel-plated steel tube, 18mm diameter. Striped canvas seat.
DimensionsH 85 · W 42 · D 48 cm (folded: D 8 cm)
Year1928
EditionEdition 1 of 80
Chronology
// Chronology
A body of work.
Each node is a year. Bauhaus red marks Gestalt events. Click to enter the room.
1925
Gestalt: Model B3 produced — first edition of 60
Bauhaus: Bauhaus moves to DessauBreuer's bicycle handlebar insight yields the B3. Gestalt produces the first workshop edition: 60 chairs, each joint brazed by hand, each canvas panel cut to within half a millimeter. Numbered in ink.
// The CatalogueComplete works,
Complete works,
documented.
Seventy-two pages. Every production-numbered piece. Technical drawings at 1:10 scale. Material specifications, provenance chain, edition status. Printed on 160gsm uncoated stock. This is not a brochure — it is a record.
Pages72
Scale drawings24
Pieces documented38
FormatA4 · PDF + Print
Not ready? The design essays are free, ungated, and written to be read slowly.
Read the design essaysScroll through the collection — 3 more pieces to unlock the catalogue
// Free Archive · No Registration
The design essays.
Six texts on the structural, material, and philosophical logic of tubular steel furniture. Written for architects, collectors, and anyone who sits slowly.
001
002
Against the Rear Leg
The structural argument for the cantilever, from Mies to Mart Stam
Structural Thought1927 · 12 min read
003
Folding as Philosophy
The D4 and the politics of the portable object in Weimar Germany
Object History1928 · 10 min read
004
Chrome and Conscience
The ethics of industrial finish in the Bauhaus workshop
Surface & Finish1930 · 7 min read
005
What the Tube Knows
Steel's structural memory and why furniture made from it does not age
Material Science2024 · 15 min read
006
The Production Number
On limited editions, authenticity, and the collector's responsibility
Provenance2025 · 9 min read