Bentwood cafe in a former Thonet showroom

Thonet celebrates its 200th anniversary this year and on the occasion of this the Hamburg Studio Besau Marguerre has given a new twist to the ultimate Thonet classic café chair 214 with 4 special editions for the 200th anniversary. Part of a classic collection I also saw in Australian cafe Bentwood located in a former Thonet showroom and named after the technique used to bend wood in the manufacture of the famous Thonet chairs.

Wooden rods are made elastic by steam pressure and within 7 minutes, the time the wood will stay flexible, the rods are bend by hand in a metal mold to the correct shape by two men. A few years ago I visited the factory and the wood bending process was not only really impressive to see but we also got the change to do it ourselves! I wrote a blogpost about it which you can find here: German design | Thonet factory tour

Paying tribute to the history of the industrial building, different Thonet classics are used in the interior, we see number 9 and 18, and vintage bar stools that are no longer in today’s collection.

Thonet classic café chair 214
In 2019 the design icon 214 will be available in four tones of warm white, velvet red, sage green and black brown. The connecting elements of the chair color a few shades lighter than the seat ring and chair legs. The duo color scheme underlines the genius minimalist construction and the individual elements of the chair.

Thonet will celebrate their company’s 200th anniversary and 100 years of Bauhaus in a fair trade booth designed by Studio Besau Marguerre which redefines the Thonet DNA at several levels and provides a perfect setting for bentwood, tubular steel classics and new designs by Studio Besau Marguerre and Sebastian Herkner at “Café Thonet”.

Find Thonet at Hall 3.2 (Pure Editions) / Booth E 21 and buy your tickets for the public weekend, friday 18 – Sunday 20 of January | using the code ‘immspired19’ ‘advertising link‘ and meanwhile enjoy some more images of the raw and industrial Cafe Bentwood. Adres: Bentwood Fitzroy, 237 Napier street Fitzroy, VIC 3065 Australia

photography Tom Blachford

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Bentwood cafe in a former Thonet showroom