avant-garde cantilever flatsteel armchair by SAB, Prague, ca. 1932 – design by Josef Havlíček

This cantilever armchair was created around 1932 from a design by Czech architect Josef Havlíček, one of the defining figures of the Prague Modernist movement. Manufactured by the steel-tube furniture company SAB, it represents one of the most progressive seating concepts of the early 1930s.

The construction combines chromed flatsteel and tubular steel, resulting in a clear and almost architectural silhouette. This structural tension reflects the experimental mindset of the Czechoslovak avant-garde: closely connected to the idea of the early flat-steel cantilevers, yet more technical, more open to material combinations, and less bound to conventions than its Western European counterparts.

A related example of the same typology was displayed in the exhibition
“Hej Rup! Czech Avant-Garde in the Context of European Modernism”
at the Bröhan Museum in Berlin, highlighting the museal relevance of this seating design.

For presentation, the armchair was re-upholstered with historical, intentionally patinated leather. Its colour and tactile qualities correspond to the original materiality, creating a warm and lived-in contrast to the cool chromed steel frame.