As part of one of his early commissions as an interior designer, namely to furnish Eugen Stössler’s flat in Vienna, Adolf Loos designed the armchair shown here. The so-called Stössler Chair was inspired by an armchair produced by the London-based furniture company Collinson & Lock, which Loos is known to have been familiar with. The model was exhibited in the Österreichisches Museum für Kunst und Industrie (today MAK) in 1897.
For his chair design, Loos replaced the upholstered armrests and back of Collinson & Lock’s model with a simpler piece of wood and omitted the vertical struts of the armrests. Instead of the turned legs of the English model, Loos used plain round legs with brass feet to protect carpets. Like the eye-catching brass nails used on the leather cover, the feet serve both a practical and decorative purpose underlining Loos’ desire for a unity of function and form.
Text: Eva B. Ottillinger
