GTV
Making the History of Design
Michael Thonet (1796-1871) and his five children were the most successful manufacturers of furniture in the Industrial Age. Having been invited to develop a trademark in Austria by Chancellor Metternich, who had seen his products at the Exhibition held by the society of friends of arts in Koblenz, in 1842, Michael Thonet left Boppard in Germany, to settle in Vienna, where in 1853 he founded the company “Gebrüder Thonet” by involving his five sons.
In the Hapsburg capital, Michael Thonet developed the industrial chemical-mechanical steam bent process which led him to begin producing wooden furniture; presenting a collection of elegant, yet practical designs that could be manufactured on a larger scale.
It was during this time that products such as chair No. 1, designed for the famous Viennese Palais Schwarzenberg, made their début, gaining fame as ‘typically’ Thonet, and from which many other models were then designed, up to and including the classic chair No. 14. By 1911, the Gebrüder Thonet catalogue boasted 980 different models, many designed by the most important Viennese architects of the time. By the end of the second world war, independent production plants had been set up in various different countries.
Design for the Evolution of Time
More recently, Gebrüder Thonet Vienna GmbH (“GTV“) has developed its work in a successful blend of the traditional and the modern, of continuity and renewal, with a new production programme that begins by re-editing a series of Thonet classics.
At the same time, GTV stands for contemporary furnishing. Advanced production techniques are applied to innovative designs and uses of materials, to create highly sought-after, multipurpose furnishing items. Truly original, up-to-date solutions that integrate well with more classic products . Items such as chair no. 14, of which more than 50 million were made between 1850 and 1930, have gone down in history for their fine design and manufacturing quality, and yet still today excite and attract new generations.
GTV always succeeds in finding the perfect combination of tradition and innovation, assisted by continuous research into new, clear-cut, versatile designs. GTV is open and looking to the future, without, however, leaving the values and experience of the past behind.
This collection is a true reflection of the evolution of our times.
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Icons of Design
N°1
Designed by Michael Thonet
Postsparkasse
Designed by Otto Wagner
Schaukelstuhl
Designed by Gebrüder Thonet
Brand Catalogue
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