Nostalgia Furniture

New acquisitions. I’ve been a fan of the work of Marcel Breuer for many years now, going back to my first postdoc in the early 90s, at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. There, I lived (over three years) in some lovely 1957 apartments designed by him, with furniture of his design in them too. (It’s a bit different now, I understand.) The Wassily (or, Model B3) chair is one of my favourites of his, and two days ago, when I got an email from a friend I’d not heard from in a while that she was getting rid of a leather-finished pair of them, I went to see them as soon as I could (especially when I heard of their colour, which I’d decided would match my floors rather well). I came back from the visit with (after some negotiations and handing over of payment) the pair and set them up.

Yes, they are just as wonderful as I recall (and this set is particularly well made – very good reproductions), beautiful, very comfortable, and a good fit for my living room… and there’s a little tinge of nostalgia in there too, reminding me of my first years in America, the thrill, inspiration, and challenge of being at the IAS, the architect community of friends I used to hang out with, and the many parties I hosted in the first of my apartments (to which the architects would come… for the food, the wine, the company, because there was not a lot else to do in Princeton back then, and of course, to hang out in the Breuer pad…)

-cvj