Mart Stam: From Architecture to Armchairs

Mart Stam, the Dutch architect and designer, forever changed the shape of modern furniture with one stroke of innovation—the cantilevered chair. Created in 1926, his pioneering design, later known as the Stila Chair, abandoned traditional legs for a continuous steel tube that supported the seat with visual and structural tension. It was revolutionary in form, engineering, and ideology—a bold reflection of the Bauhaus era’s forward momentum.

More than just a chair, Stam’s creation marked the beginning of a movement. The Stila Chair inspired contemporaries like Mies van der Rohe and Marcel Breuer, influencing generations of furniture design that followed. It represented clarity, function, and modern elegance—without ornamentation, but full of intent.

Beyond furniture, Stam’s architectural contributions, such as the Weissenhof Estate, Van Nelle Factory, and rationalist housing blocks in Frankfurt, echoed his belief in functional, democratic design. Today, echoes of the Stila Chair live on in modern barstools and lounge seating, where clean lines, floating forms, and tubular frames evoke Stam’s quiet radicalism. In homes and public spaces alike, his legacy continues—effortlessly modern, and timelessly relevant.