MB Lounge by Knoll
designed by Marcel Breuer
The newly reissued MB Lounge is part of Marcel Breuer’s extensive work using tubular steel, a revolutionary material in furniture construction at the time. The seemingly continuous frame supports an upholstered foam cushion on horizontal metal springs that provide slight movement to the back.
While Breuer never worked directly for Knoll, he is nonetheless an influential figure in the company’s history. He was an early mentor to Florence Knoll during her time in the office of Walter Gropius in the 1930s. It was also Breuer who suggested that Hans Knoll hire Eszter Haraszty, the Knoll Textiles director responsible for many of the Knoll Planning Unit’s most memorable color combinations.
Construction and Details
- Frame is seamless tubular steel with a polished chrome finish
- Upholstered foam cushion is supported by horizontal metal springs
- Armrests are natural oak with clear lacquer finish
- Four plastic glides snap into pre-drilled holes on base of the chair
- The KnollStudio logo and signature of Marcel Breuer are stamped into the base of the chair
About the Designer
Marcel Breuer
A champion of the modern movement and protégé of Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer is equally celebrated for his achievements in architecture and furniture. Breuer was a student and subsequently a master carpenter at the Bauhaus in the early 1920s. His entire body of work, both architecture and furniture, embodies the driving Bauhaus objective to reconcile art and industry. While at the Bauhaus, Breuer revolutionized the modern interior with his tubular-steel furniture collection — inspired by bicycle construction and fabricated using the techniques of local plumbers. His first designs, including the Wassily, remain among the most identifiable icons of the modern furniture movement.
