The Modern Chair: 1850 to Today

From the 1850 Thonet bentwood rocker to Uli Witzig’s 1990 Liberty desk chair, The Modern Chair is an indispensible reference for anyone who cares about furniture design. Each chair-be it Breuer’s cane-seated Cesca (1928) or Philippe Starck’s Miss Wirt stool (1980)-gets a page with a detailed line drawing, and, in the appendix, a sketch with dimensions. True to the Swiss origin of author Gilbert Frey, the book is simple and straightforward, with information clearly presented. Also included are short biographies of each designer and furniture-builder featured. In English, French and German. Frey was a professor of interior architecture at the School of Decorative Arts in Geneva.