Child's chair, 1935 (wood & metal)

Piet Zwart was interested in the environment of the modern child, and he sent his own children to the Wassenaar Kindergarten, a Dutch Montessori school. Montessori schools are characterized by their emphasis on independence, freedom within limits, and respect for a child’s natural psychological, physical, and social development. He produced this design for the school following the recommendations of early-childhood-education pioneer Maria Montessori, who called for light and simple furniture. This chair consists of seven separate elements, with the back and front supports slotted into the base like construction toys. Though Zwart planned for it to be mass-produced as a flat-packed kit, he could not find an interested manufacturer.