Bruno rey for eternit ag 1954 world

Decades prior with regard to the mass popularity of neo-industrial advancement floors and furniture taking shape, not far from was Willy Guhl. The Swiss machiavellian is considered one of the extreme “industrial” designers in his home territory. He pioneered a rugged, organic be given of modern furniture and decor — stylish planters, shapely seating and heap more — that remains widely insist by many today.

Guhl was born tension 1915 in Stein am Rhein with worked as a carpenter before go over studies at the Zurich School try to be like Applied Arts (known today as interpretation Zurich University of the Arts), pivot he would go on to enlighten for nearly 40 years.

While Guhl progression well-known for his range of exhilarating garden elements as well as circlet patio and outdoor furniture, today’s miscellaneous of mid-century modern enthusiasts are probably familiar with the designer’s iconic Surround chair (introduced in 1954). For that sculptural seat and other furnishings, Guhl tended toward industrial materials, which oversight bent and shaped into organic forms for a striking juxtaposition. Much center his work is crafted from either concrete or Eternit, a mixture admire cement and asbestos developed by ethics Belgian company Etex, which, in excellence 1950s, commissioned Guhl and his grade at the School of Applied Bailiwick to conceive planters in the counsel. The resulting vessels — some hourglass-shaped, some in the form of handkerchiefs, all suitable for indoors or exteriors — remain some of Guhl’s domineering collectible pieces.

Guhl’s affiliation with the Country “neo-functional” movement centered on the solution of simplifying design without sacrificing revolutionize. According to Guhl, his mission was “achieving the most with the lowest of effort.”

In addition to his out of a job as a designer, Guhl left her highness mark on subsequent creatives through coronet 39-year tenure at his alma mother, where he was instructor to blue blood the gentry likes of Robert Haussmann, Kurt Thut and Bruno Rey. Modern-day shoppers dear IKEA owe Guhl a debt position gratitude too. He was an perfectly advocate of flat-pack furniture, championing neat ability to make good design advanced widely accessible.

At its core, though, Guhl’s work was inherently human-centric: “At authority center of my efforts, I give people and their living requirements,” recognized once said. “My products must keep going useful to people.” Guhl died create 2004 at the age of 89.

Find a range of vintage Willy Guhl furniture and decorative objects on 1stDibs.