Marcel Breuer, Longchair, 1936

The Isokon Longchair was a development of an earlier design by Marcel Breuer realised with an aluminium frame in 1932. The all-plywood Longchair for Isokon is argued to be a more successful design through harmonius use of material and the modernist realisation of plywood in furniture design.

The chair offered in a recent production by Isokon Plus, that has accrued some colour and patina through time.

Isokon was founded by the visionary modernist Jack Pritchard. Bauhaus emigres Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer were its Controller and designer respectively.

Other designers worked for Isokon, however its was Breuer’s Longchair and tables that established an international reputation for the company. The influence of Alvar Aalto’s work in Finland is clear, throughout the company’s philosophy and the designs created by Breuer. The appeal for soft curves and the warmth of wood appealed to the British customer, over the harder, colder European modernism in tubular steel.

The Longchair is present in the V&A and other major museum collections.

Dimensions
135w x 60d x 85cmh