Design

Chair No. 14

I have been an admirer of  this iconic piece of furniture for the longest time. My earliest memory of this chair is from when I visited a Parsi family that had the plastic version of this in their dining room. As the elders socialized, I killed time by sticking spoons into the weave of the seat.

Later my education in Architecture and Industrial Design only increased my appreciation for this wonderful piece of furniture design. Since then I have spent countless hours looking at pictures of this chair in various settings and imagining how it would look in my future house.

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Image Credit: Thonet.de

Chair No. 14 is one of the most famous chairs designed by  Micheal Thonet of the Thonet Chair Company in the 1850’s. It is also popularly known as the Bistro chair. Versions of these furnish many Irani Cafes of Mumbai.

It is a design icon and is considered the most successful mass-produced product in the world till date. Thonet’s No. 14 is made of six pieces of steam bent wood, ten screws, and two nuts. When knocked down it is extremely compact and 36 chairs can be packed into 1 cubic meter box. Since then many designers have made numerous interpretations of this classic design.

Have a look at how folks have incorporated the chair no. 14 in their lives and indulge in my favorite activity of (endlessly) ogling at beautiful images of interiors, in search of the always needed yet elusive – inspiration.

Hally's, Parsons Green, London

Image Credit: Helen Cathcart

HNK-dining

Image Credit: The Designfiles

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Image Credit: Homeadore

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Image Credit: Ton

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Image Credit: Irisblackboard

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Image Credit: My Scandinavian Home

Chair No 14

Image Credit: Little Green Notebook

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Image Credit: Kitchn

thonet chair no 14

Image Credit: Coco Lapine

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Image Credit: vkvvisuals

Have you been an admirer of any such iconic designs? Let me know your favorites in the comments.

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9 thoughts on “Chair No. 14

  1. Hi Ms Plainspoken, love your design blogs. I just came back from a holiday in Scandinavia (with Denmark being arguably the capital of chair-making) and must say that I fell for Arne Jacobsen all over again. Feel free to pop by my site when you have a chance? Cheers! ^_^

    • Jolene,
      I agree Jacobsen’s contribution to functionalism is incomparable!
      And his Swan chair is a classic! I will perhaps do a post on them soon!
      Thanks a ton for your thoughts, heading to your blog right away 🙂

  2. Pingback: Juicy Salif | Ms. Plainspoken

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