When Jindřich Halabala was promoted to head of the design studio of the then Czechoslovakian Spojené uměleckoprůmyslové závody (United Applied Arts Workshops) in 1930 he immediately began developing tubular steel furniture. Along with several models inspired by Marcel Breuer’s chairs, Halabala’s own original designs were also produced from 1931 onwards. Despite the vast variety of tubular steel chairs created between 1925 and 1930, Halabala succeeded in developing his own stylistic language: He developed chairs with armrests consisting of one single continuous tube such as the H-80 chair, yielding a construction that dispensed with front legs.
The single closed tube of the H-80 follows the contours of the chair, which made it possible to use stretched *Eisengarn* canvas for the seat and backrest. In its overall appearance, the chair is reminiscent of some of Breuer’s early designs. The H-80 appears airy, simple, and elegant thanks to its clear form. Producing the complex tubular steel structures was difficult, which is why this construction principle was hardly ever used. For chairs without back legs, the diagonal connection between runner and seat or armrests was much more common. Halabala, however, wouldn’t dismiss his design principle for chairs without front legs just yet. Before returning to designing wooden furniture, he developed more armchairs without front legs in the early 1930s, which, however, could not boast the same uncompromising elegance as the H-80.
Text: Otakar Máčel
