Jürg Bally adjustable coffee dining table Switzerland 1951

Mulfifunctional S.T. table designed by Jürg Bally and manufactured by Wohnlife in Switzerland in 1951. The S.T-Tich table cleverly combines functionality and aesthetics. Its German name, a play on “Ess-Tee-Tisch” (dining/tea table) and “asthetisch” (aesthetic), reflects its dual purpose. With continuous height adjustment, it serves as both a dining and coffee table. Manufactured by the Wohnhilfe cooperative from 1954, it received the “Die gute Form” award in 1955. Bally’s design, featuring lathed maple legs, stood out for its warmth compared to 1920s metal furniture.

The adjustable height mechanism, hidden beneath, sets it apart. Bally’s contributions to furniture design extended beyond the S.T-Tuch table, showcasing his innovation in various projects, reflecting the changing social dynamics of the mid-20th century. In excellent and fully original condition.

Jürg Bally was an interior designer, furniture designer and product designer. He ran his own shops in Zurich, where he also launched and sold international design. Under the company name Bally Forma, later Bally Abita, he designed furniture for public and private clients. Since the 1950s, convertible and lightweight furniture has been created, including a double-shell chair with a plywood seat shell (1959) for Girsberger and the table S.T. (1954) for the Zurich housing association. The three-legged dining/tea table already indicates its purpose in the name: the height-adjustable piece of furniture serves both as a dining table and as a tea table.

The mechanism is invisibly attached under the table top, the three crossed legs with movable tenon connections run in metal rails. In 1955 the table was awarded the title “The Good Form” by the Swiss Werkbund. As an interior designer, Jürg Bally was responsible, among other things, for the design of the cabins, the restaurant and the bar of the Rhine ship Basilea (1959) and the furnishing of a model apartment for Expo 64 in Lausanne. There he presented his Cabin furniture range in the children’s room, a convertible and expandable system made of wooden modules.

Literature; Swiss Furniture and Interiors in the 20th Century Edited by Arthur Ruegg, page 182 – 198-199