Bentwood Armchair for the Postal Savings Bank in Vienna, Mod. No. 6516, 1906

This armchair with the model number 6516 was designed by the architect, town planner and designer Otto Wagner (1841–1918) in 1906 for the Vienna Postal Savings Bank – a building that represents one of his chief architectural works. In keeping with Jugendstil, Wagner created a functional and esthetic Gesamtkunstwerk, or universal work of art, designing not only the building but also its entire interior decoration. With this chair, he focused on stability, an execution using the bentwood technique that shows respect for the material and on preventing wear and tear: The armrests and the four feet – the areas exposed to the most wear – were reinforced with aluminum. The idea behind this was that the product should last as long as possible in a counter proposal to the concept of planned obsolescence. In this respect, the piece meets our modern standards of sustainability. The armchair was produced in various versions that corresponded to the hierarchy within the banking establishment and differed primarily in the materials used. The designs were executed by the company Gebrüder Thonet.

MR, 2021