Pair of
Embassy Cane Loungers
Jan Bočan

Description:

This pair of Cane and Bentwood Loungers were designed by the Czech architect Jan Bočan for the Czech embassy in Stockholm. Bočan commissioned Michael Thonet’s former factories in the Czech Republic, which operated during the 1970s as a state-owned enterprise under the name, TON, to produce his designs using Thonet’s classic bentwood technique. All of Bočan’s buildings were conceived holistically, everything from the interior details to the furnishings were designed to achieve Gesamtkunstwerk, or a total work of art.

In Stockholm, the modular system was strictly adhered to. Bočan observed: “Modulor 75/75/75 refers to a three-dimensional cube into which a chair can fit. It serves as a means by which structures can be made to correspond to human dimensions and feelings. Half the height of an average person, for example, would correspond to the height of a seat. This would then become the base unit, with the normal height of construction for a room being four times this size. Four is a magic number for me, dividing a square into other squares.

Bočan’s design vernacular is one that recognises balance, with these chairs we see how he uses silhouettes through frames and the cane to equalise the strong presence of the design.

Although the chairs were designed in a cube proportion, the curvature of the bentwood allows for a relaxed and comforting seating.

Specifications:

Designer: Jan Bočan
Maker: Ton
Date of Design: 1968-70
Date of Manufacture: Before 1972
Materials: Stained Bent Beech Wood
Width: 75 cm
Depth: 74 cm
Height: 71.5 cm
Provenance: Czech Embassy Stockholm