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Mama Casa’s Tecta Bauhaus Collection of furniture, bearing the coveted Signet from the Bauhaus Archives in Berlin, is on display at the Euroluce showroom in Surry Hills.
The Tecta includes pieces never seen before in Australia designed by Bauhaus luminaries Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, Ludwg Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich, including the F51 and D51 armchairs by Gropius, Breuer’s D4 and D40 chairs and the D42 chair, a collaboration of Reich and van der Rohe. From 1919 until its closure by the Nazis in 1933, Bauhaus remains one of the most influential currents in modern design, architecture art and design.
The Tecta Collection is handmade to order in Germany, and Tecta is the leading manufacturer of faithful and licensed Bauhaus re-editions. The exhibition acknowledges the work of Lilly Reich, who collaborated with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in the design of the Barcelona Pavilion, Villa Tugendhat and the D42 chair. Interestingly, Mies van der Rohe did not design furniture before collaborating with Reich, nor after. Tecta’s mission is to preserve and renew the best ideas and designs of the Bauhaus movement, finding new approaches in innovative materials and techniques to lengthen the lifespan of good design, both from a social and ecological point of view. Tecta has sought out architects and designers willing to further develop furniture in the spirit of the Bauhaus movement.
From architect Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus movement, furniture on display includes the F51 and D51 chairs and sofas. Designed as the answer to Gropius’s own office needs in 1920, the F51 invites hard and soft to come together, forming a sturdy, unified structure composed of a series of right angles. Plush upholstery is given support by a solid wooden frame.
One of the Bauhaus’s earliest and most promising students, Marcel Breuer took inspiration from bicycle frames, effecting the innovative application of tubular steel in furniture-making. Breuer’s D40 is a lightweight presence marked by an S-curved profile. Harnessing movement to enhance functionality, the D4 armchair sees a transformation of form with its collapsible design. Although originally created in 1927, the D4 design was only rediscovered by Tecta decades later in the 1970s. Delighted with the revival, Breuer commented that “the resurfacing of this chair is like an old forgotten dream.”
Momentous and instantly familiar, the B42 by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich was born of a single slash of pencil to paper. Shaping the future of seating with its ostensibly simple snaked contour, the cantilevered design of both the B42 and its brother the D42 has endured as easily recognisable and wholly unique. Featuring a wicker seat and back originally designed by Reich, reproductions of these elements have been handmade under the guide of archival documents and authorised by her family. She collaborated on countless iconic projects as a close personal and professional associate of Mies van der Rohe, with his era of furniture design exclusively undertaken during their period of partnership. The Lilly Reich Grant for Equality in Architecture was introduced in 2019 by the Mies van der Rohe Foundation in her honour. Reich’s profound yet historically overlooked influence is highlighted in Mama Casa’s exhibition.
The Tecta Bauhaus Collection from Mama Casa can be viewed at the Euroluce showroom located at 2 Hill Street Surry Hills, Sydney, until 17 December 2022 or at mamacasa.com.au
