Fauteuil Grand Confort, petit modèle, LC2

First exhibited in an interior at the Salon d’Automne in Paris in 1929, the new metal furniture designed by the team of Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, and Charlotte Perriand adapts and transforms traditional furniture types. The Fauteuil Grand Confort with its down cushions and spring core upholstery resting on a network of wire cables is a new take on the English club chair. Its tubular steel frame by contrast is an obvious nod to the modern world of industry and technology. Thonet decided not to put the chair into serial production in 1930, so only three originals can be traced. The version presented in 1929 is equipped with shock absorbers on the rear legs, so that the cube leans back in a comfortable inclined position when sitting. The Zurich-based interior designer Heidi Weber had the Fauteuil Grand Confort serially produced for the first time in 1959, selling it herself. Since 1965, the metal furniture designs by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, and Charlotte Perriand have been produced by the Italian furniture manufacturer Cassina in various versions, the Fauteuil Grand Confort with a chrome-plated frame but also—like the originals—with the steel enameled in various shades. Elastic belts support the polyurethane foam cushions. Since 2010, the upholstery in fabric or leather has had piping all around. Cassina’s re-editions are easy to identify by the embossed lettering on the bottom of the steel tube surrounding the chair.