Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw sweeping social change and major scientific advances — both of which contributed to a new aesthetic: modernism. Rejecting the rigidity of Victorian artistic conventions, modernists sought a new means of expression. References to the natural world and ornate classical embellishments gave way to the sleek simplicity of the Machine Age. Architect Philip Johnson characterized the hallmarks of modernism as “machine-like simplicity, smoothness or surface [and] avoidance of ornament.”
Early practitioners of modernist design include the De Stijl (“The Style”) group, founded in the Netherlands in 1917, and the Bauhaus School, founded two years later in Germany.
Followers of both groups produced sleek, spare designs — many of which became icons of daily life in the 20th century. The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics. While Bauhaus principals Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe created furniture from mass-produced, chrome-plated steel, American visionaries like Charles and Ray Eames worked in materials as novel as molded plywood and fiberglass. Today, Breuer’s Wassily chair, Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair — crafted with his romantic partner, designer Lilly Reich — and the Eames lounge chair are emblems of progressive design and vintage originals are prized cornerstones of collections.
It’s difficult to overstate the influence that modernism continues to wield over designers and architects — and equally difficult to overstate how revolutionary it was when it first appeared a century ago. But because modernist furniture designs are so simple, they can blend in seamlessly with just about any type of décor. Don’t overlook them.
2010s American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Brass
2010s American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Leather, Oak, Hardwood
2010s American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Leather, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Steel
1990s American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Metal
Early 2000s American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
1970s American Vintage Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Chrome
Early 2000s European Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Birch
2010s Italian Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Chrome
2010s Italian Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Leather, Ash
Early 2000s Canadian Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Metal, Aluminum
Late 20th Century American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Upholstery, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Metal
Early 2000s North American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
2010s American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Leather, Oak
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Metal
Late 20th Century American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Metal
2010s Ukrainian Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Fabric, Wool, Bouclé
1990s French Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Leather
2010s Ukrainian Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Fabric, Textile, Bouclé, Sheepskin, Wool, Velvet, Faux Fur
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Steel
1960s Swiss Vintage Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary German Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Fabric, Plastic
2010s American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Leather, Oak
Early 2000s American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Metal
Late 20th Century European Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Metal, Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Asian Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Metal
20th Century European Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Metal
1990s American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Turkish Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Metal
Late 19th Century North American Antique Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Poplar
2010s American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
2010s American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum, Steel
2010s Czech Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Chrome
2010s American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum, Steel
1980s American Vintage Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
Early 2000s Italian Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Steel
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Wood
Late 20th Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Metal, Steel
2010s American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Leather, Oak
2010s American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum, Steel
2010s Swiss Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Chrome
Early 2000s American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
2010s American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
Early 2000s American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum, Steel
2010s German Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
2010s American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
2010s American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
2010s American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
1980s American Vintage Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
1970s American Vintage Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
Early 2000s American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
2010s American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum, Steel