Tecta F51N is a reinterpretation of the F51 by Walter Gropius by Katrin Greiling
It was the Roaring Twenties and there was something in the air: “Defying gravity and overcoming the earth’s inertia, in impression and appearance,” was the aim of Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius. Like the cubic cantilever design of his F51 Director’s Chair, these prophetic words stood for a new chapter of modern seating: the cantilever concept. The armrests of the F51 protruded freely and even the back of the chair did not touch the ground. A piece that embraced Lissitzky’s vision and was considered an innovation.
About Katrin Greiling:
Born in Germany in 1978, Katrin Greiling left for Sweden in 1998 to study cabinet making and fine carpentry at Capellagarden. She continued her education with a 5 year master’s degree in furniture design and interior architecture at the prestigious Konstfack University in Stockholm. After graduating she started on a quest to explore design globally: During a three-year stay in Dubai she was commissioned to design global offices for a property developer. Research trips took her to Shanghai, Cairo and Istanbul. She studied the culture of the Middle East. Some important works were created during this period, including the Bidoun Sofa Series, consisting of stacked mattresses inspired by the daily life of traditional Bedouins.
What inspired you to give the legendary F51 by Gropius a new outfit?
Katrin Greiling: In autumn 2017 I started a project at HBK Saar with the question: How do the companies that inherited the Bauhaus legacy work with it? How do they create something new out of this heritage? I wrote to Tecta asking if they were interested in working with a university. And so a wonderful project was born, which gave me the opportunity to get to know the company and the people behind it. When we met again at imm Cologne in 2018 Christian Drescher asked me if I wanted to develop a new edition of the F51 chair by Walter Gropius.
~~~~~
Chairs!
gje