Swinging instead of steering

Marcel Breuer: B34 Cantilever Chair, Gebr. Thonet, 1928

Marcel Breuer was a passionate cyclist. The handlebar of his bicycle inspired him to use tubular steel in furniture construction. Until then, tubular steel had been mainly used in the construction of heating systems and only in hospital furniture.

Today, you can find tubular steel furniture in every furniture store. The seat of this chair seems to float above the floor, which is why you can slightly bounce or swing when sitting on this chair. This is the reason it is called ‘Freischwinger’ in German which means something like ‘free swinging’.