Whether as architects or designers, the primary concern of Heinz and Bodo Rasch was always optimum construction of their pieces. Space and material savings were core criteria. As such, it follows that the brothers also worked on optimising folding chairs. In their publication 'Der Stuhl', dating from 1928, they dedicate a chapter to this special space-saving type of chair. In the majority of normal folding chairs, the front legs and back comprise one element, creating an obtuse angle between the back and seat and making sitting comfortably difficult. If designers tried to deviate from this structure, it was generally at the expense of the space-saving aspect when folded. The angle between the seat and back in the model shown here, however, is 90 degrees – as in a normal chair. This is achieved by simply inserting the back into the supporting structure from the top. The chair can fold flat. Heinz Rasch applied for a patent for the subsequent model, a tubular steel model with plywood seat and back, in 1928, and was granted it in 1932. In 1932 Heinz Rasch was in correspondence with Vereinigte Leichtmetallwerke in Bonn and two French firms regarding a lightweight metal design of the folding chair, but there is no evidence of the project ever having been implemented.
Text: Barbara M. Eggert
