Jürg Bally, 1951 - ess.tee.tisch
0ne of Switzerland’s few iconic tables. The architect designed the height-adjustable table in 1950, shortly before he began working for Knoll International in New York.
The table was a birthday gift for his future wife, Ica, whose furnished room at the time lacked a table. The piece, known back then as the S.T. Table, still stands in her home today. Bally’s play on words shines through in the name: thanks to its height adjustment, it transforms from a dining table into a tea table—which sounds decidedly “aesthetic.”
His inspiration was Hans Bellmann’s three-legged “colonial table” from 1944. With the adjustable table (as it is popularly known), Jürg Bally created a response to changing living conditions and increasing mobility—a response that remains relevant to this day. The “lift table,” as it was also called, went into mass production in 1951 at the “Werkgenossenschaft Wohnhilfe.”
The official prototype from 1950 is now part of the design collection at the Museum für Gestaltung in Zurich. In 1955, it received the “Die gute Form” award from the Swiss Werkbund.
The construction of this design classic is as simple as it is ingenious: The tabletop rests on three crossed legs connected by a movable tenon hinge.
Early version featuring the original gear-and-rack system; a sophisticated mechanism is concealed beneath the tabletop—a small lever allows the three legs to be adjusted synchronously, enabling the table height to be adjusted in 7 steps—from a low coffee table to a full-sized dining table. The tenon hinge balances the tripod. A masterpiece of Swiss design that uniquely combines functionality and elegance.
Teak tabletop, leg frame made of matching reddish oak.
Dimensions:
45 cm to 68.5 cm - Ø 99 cm
17.7 to 27.0 in - Ø 39.0 in
Price: contact us..
