GUBI presents the M-Chair by Marcel Gascoin

A modernist chair defined by lightness and graphic clarity

Designed in 1937 and brought into production for the first time by GUBI, the M-Chair reveals a lesser-known chapter of Marcel Gascoin’s work, before the wooden furniture that later defined him. Developed from archival photographs and historical references, the fully upholstered chair – named after its defining material – reflects Gascoin’s early exploration of metal construction, modernist proportions, and modern living.

‘The M-Chair highlights an earlier side of Marcel Gascoin’s work, exploring metal construction before the wooden furniture that later became closely associated with his name. That contrast brings a new dimension to the Gascoin collection at GUBI.’
– Marie Kristine Schmidt, CEO, GUBI

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An unseen chapter of Gascoin

The M-Chair belongs to the 1930s, when Marcel Gascoin was exploring tubular and metal furniture alongside the emerging ideas of European modernism. During this period, he worked in close dialogue with figures such as Jean Prouvé and participated in the broader movement surrounding the UAM (Union des Artistes Modernes), where designers sought to unite function, fabrication, and modern aesthetics.

While Gascoin later became known for the warmth and practicality of his post-war wooden furniture, the M-Chair introduces a sharper, more graphic language and a distinctly architectural character. Slender tapered metal legs in a black matte finish, compact proportions, and generous upholstered volumes create a chair that feels visually light and highly resolved.
‘My favorite thing about the M-Chair is the contrast between its graphic lines and the softness of the seat. It has a quiet elegance that feels completely natural and modern.’
– Monique Gascoin Laurent, daughter of Marcel Gascoin

Within GUBI’s Marcel Gascoin collection, the M-Chair introduces a more restrained presence alongside wooden designs such as the C-Chair, F-Chair, B-Table, and S-Table.

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A suspended construction

The chair is defined by the relationship between the seat, legs, and backrest. Rather than being conventionally mounted from behind, the upholstered backrest emerges directly from within the seat construction, creating a subtle floating effect that gives the chair its distinctive architectural identity. The continuous vertical lines created by the back legs and suspended backrest rods reinforce the impression of a unified construction, while corresponding with the front legs running along the seat.

‘What makes the M-Chair feel so contemporary is the clarity of its lines and the lightness of its presence. Every proportion is carefully considered, creating a chair that remains timeless and versatile within modern interiors.’

– Marie Kristine Schmidt, CEO, GUBI

The legs further emphasize this graphic precision, transitioning from an elliptical cross-section near the seat into a circular form toward the floor. Maintaining the chair’s refined proportions requires highly skilled upholstery craftsmanship, particularly around the suspended backrest construction. The backrest remains open while providing supportive comfort suited to dining and social settings. Together, these details create a form that feels refined, controlled, and remarkably contemporary, almost ninety years after it was designed.

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Designed for modern living

Like much of Marcel Gascoin’s work, the M-Chair was conceived with efficiency, adaptability, and comfort in mind. Its compact footprint and visually light presence allow it to move naturally between residential and hospitality settings – from dining rooms and cafés to restaurants and meeting spaces.

‘My father was never interested in looking back. He was always focused on how people would live in the future, and I think that forward-looking spirit is what still makes the M-Chair feel so relevant today.’

– Monique Gascoin Laurent, daughter of Marcel Gascoin

An upholstery-led character

To complement the M-Chair’s graphic clarity and visually light structure, GUBI has curated upholsteries that subtly transform the chair’s character through texture, depth, and color. The shared palette moves through earthy neutrals, deep greens, ochres, warm browns, and darker hues, reinforcing the chair’s architectural presence and modernist sensibility.

Among the featured fabrics, Dedar’s Amuleto introduces an expressive dimension through its geometric jacquard pattern and rich velvet texture, while Kvadrat’s Asator brings a refined matte tactility through its dense short-pile velour construction. Bonito adds a softer and more understated character with its canvas-like chenille weave and subtle tonal depth.

Marcel Gascoin

French designer Marcel Gascoin (1907-1986) was one of the leading furniture designers of the post-war era. He is recognized for the vital role he played in the reconstruction of France after the Second World War, when his pragmatic modular storage units and matching sets of wooden furniture, which focused on clean aesthetics and functionality, became a staple for French households.

During the post-war housing crisis in France, Gascoin worked as an interior architect and designer for the French Ministry of Reconstruction and Urbanism, designing homes as well as the furniture to go inside them. He drew on his long-held love of wood, his childhood fascination with compact and efficient nautical interiors, and his training as an interior designer and cabinetmaker to create a new standard for furniture that was rational and utilitarian.

The new concept of a “living-room” (pièce à vivre) was launched at the “Logis 49” fair in Paris, combining two traditionally separate spaces for dining and resting or “living” and placing the kitchen nearby. Forward-thinking for its time, and driven by a strong social conscience, Gascoin’s democratic design connected art and industry, bringing together clean aesthetics, efficient manufacturing processes and common sense to create some of the first modular and multifunctional furniture sets. They balanced utility with elegance, used coherent design to enable affordability, and have been described as “a model of modernity”.

Gascoin was a member of the UAM (L’Union des Artistes Modernes or the French Union of Modern Artists) alongside important modernist designers such as Robert Mallet-Stevens, Charlotte Perriand, Jean Prouvé, Mathieu Martégot, Eileen Gray, René Herbst and Le Corbusier. This was an intellectual movement bound by a philosophy of design that united function with fabrication. Gascoin also pioneered a social and utilitarian approach that sat apart from the race for innovation, alongside international designers such as Gordon Russell, Elias Svedberg and René Gabriel. In his own workshop, he passed his knowledge on to the next generation of interior decorators and furniture designers, and several of Gascoin’s apprentices, such as Michel Mortier, Pierre Paulin and Joseph- André Motte, went on to have distinguished careers as designers in their own right.

Today, Gascoin’s work is being re-discovered by collectors, curators and designers across the globe, all of whom admire his quietly revolutionary approach to design.