Dutch architect, designer and urban planner Mart Stam is an important figure in the realm of urbanistic theories as related to the Modern Movement. As an exponent of the left wing of the avant-garde movement, he supported new ethical and social positions in architecture.
Already in 1926, Stam worked with thin steel gas tubing to create a chair without rear legs which was functional, light and practical. It was the very first cantilever chair, exploiting the tensile properties of steel, and became a benchmark in the history of furniture design. The artistic copyright for the cantilever chair was attributed to Stam in 1932, after a long patent dispute with Mies van der Rohe and Breuer.
From 1928 onwards, Stam was an honorary member of the Bauhaus, to which he brough a valid artistic contribution in the field of furniture design.
Stam interests were, however, increasingly directed at the designing of houses (such as the renowned townhouses in the Weissenhof district of Stuttgart) and cities: he worked as an urban planner in Russia and Rotterdam, and towards the reconstruction of Dresden after World War II.