Cesca Chair

The armless Cesca Chair, from The Breuer Collection by Knoll. Cane seat and back in black frames, carried on one continuous loop of chrome tubular steel that leaves the back of the chair floating with nothing beneath it.

Marcel Breuer changed the modern vocabulary of furniture with tubular steel while at the Bauhaus. His first designs were inspired by bicycle construction and made using the techniques of local plumbers. The cantilevered form uses the strength of the steel itself, so the seat gives slightly as you sit, for added flexibility and comfort.

A full set round a dining table is a classic. A single one at a desk is just as good.