Langerak Coffee Table by Kho Liang Ie for 't Spectrum, 1960s

Outside of the Netherlands, Dutch designer Kho Liang Ie is best known for his work at Artifort, as well as his interiors for the Schipol airport in Amsterdam (1967). To the Dutch, however, he's considered one of the most significant talents of 20th-century design, and a prestigious design award was named in his honor.

Born in 1927 to Chinese parents in Magelang, Indonesia, Liang Ie moved to the Netherlands in 1949. Between 1950 and 1954, he studied interior and industrial design at Amsterdam's Instituut voor Kunstnijverheidsonderwijs, now part of the Rietveld Academy. After graduation, he took a position with the Stichting Goed Wonen, an organization dedicated to using good design to aid the postwar recovery efforts. In 1958, he was appointed aesthetic consultant and designer at Artifort. During his tenure there, he not only created a number of wildly succussful designs, but also was responsible for pursuading Artifort to commission designs from major international designers, like Pierre Paulin and Geoffrey Harcourt.

Standout designs for Artifort include the Lamp K46 (1957-59), Squareline collection (1958-61), 416 Seating (1961-66), Series 070 Sofa (1962-64), 720 Banquette Sofa (1966), 820/822 Table (1967), C662 and C684 Sofa (1968), Flower Tables (1968-70), and 656 Chair (1970s).

Liang Ie produced designs for other manufacturers as well, such as the J Series collection for Fristho (1956-60), Landereis and Lieshout Tables for 't Spectrum (1958-62), Terrace Chair for C. A. Ruigrok Industrie (1960), a credenza for Kempkes (1960), Copal Credenza for Fristho (1960-63), and tile collections for ceramics company Royal Mosa (1964-70).

At a time when Dutch design generally embraced an austere, industrial aesthetic, Liang Ie introduced what would later be called a "space age" style, anticipating the postmodern movement that would come to the fore in the 1970s and '80s. While his forms maintain a simplicity and rationality in line with modernism, his experimental approach to materials resulted in a warmth and freedom that was uniquely his own in postwar Netherlands.

Much too young, Kho Liang Ie died in January, 1975. His designs, however, live on the collections of many important Dutch museums, including Museum of Boijmans Van Beuningen (Rotterdam), Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam), and Museum Catharijneconvent (Utrecht).

Dutch furniture company ‘t Spectrum was founded as a subsidiary of De Ploeg Textiles in 1941 in Bergeijk, the Netherlands. During World War II, the market for upholstery and fabrics shrunk; so De Ploeg director Piet Blijenburg (1896-1967)—a real go-getter—decided to tap into the more general, more durable market for domestic “industrial arts.” After the war, Blijenburg aligned ‘t Spectrum with the “Goed Wonen” (Good Living) movement in the Netherlands, which, much like the “Good Design” movement in the US, emphasized design work that embodied a healthy, modern lifestyle at affordable prices. The early objects produced by ‘t Spectrum—from tableware and lighting, to stools, magazine racks, and children’s furniture—quickly earned a reputation in the Netherlands for frugality, utility, and durability.

In 1954, engineer-designer Martin Visser (1922-2009) became ‘t Spectrum’s Head of Design—in charge of developing the collections and overseeing production—and piloted the company’s “form follows function” ethos into the booming postwar era. As the wartime ban on metal consumption lifted, Visser designed a number of popular furniture pieces—chairs, tables, and more—in tubular steel, including his iconic BR 02.7 Sofa Bed (1955-58). Visser also commissioned outside creatives to contribute to ‘t Spectrum’s line, including graphic artist Constant Nieuwenhuys, designers Benno Premsela and Kho Liang Ie, and, most famously, architect Gerrit Rietveld. Although ‘t Spectrum’s aesthetic through the end of the 1960s was quite industrial, Visser, in fact, held a preference for handmade furniture; as a result, ‘t Spectrum's seating and storage products were always finely crafted and often too costly for the mass market.

In the early ‘70s, with cheaper, foreign products bringing stiff competition, ‘t Spectrum’s directors decided to liquidate the company. Some employees, however, wanted to continue; and so they opened a smaller manufacturing outfit under the name Arspect, selling a small number of ‘t Spectrum pieces alongside new designers. Unable to weather financial problems in the 1980s, Arspect also closed; but luckily another former ‘t Spectrum employee bought the original, ‘60s-era design licenses and set up Spectrum, as it is known today, in Eindhoven. This latest incarnation still offers high-quality pieces by Visser and Rietveld, among others.