Mid-Century Reply Drafting Work Table by Friso Kramer for Ahrend De Cirkel

Innovative Dutch design icon Friso Kramer was an active member in many influential design associations and a driving force behind the development of the Dutch modernist aesthetic from the 1940s onward. Son of accomplished architect Piet Kramer (1881-1961), Friso Kramer was born in Amsterdam in 1922. He earned a degree in interior architecture from the Institute of Applied Art in Amsterdam under director and architect Mart Stam (1899-1986). After graduating, he sought positions to gain experience in the fields of architecture and industrial design, including work for Bureaus JP Kloos and Frans Paulussen. In 1948, Kramer began designing for the steel furniture manufacturer De Cirkel, a subsidiary of Ahrend, where he eventually became the Art Director (1971 to 1983).

During the 1950s, Kramer joined the Stichting Goed Wonen (Good Living Association), a design and industry partnership that was committed to postwar reconstruction and quality-of-life improvements through good design. The group forged many strong collaborations between artists, designers, architects, manufacturers, and customers, which resulted in widespread interest in modernist design principles and aesthetics in the Netherlands. Kramer, together with designers Wim Crouwel, Benno Wissing, and Paul and Dick Schwarz, founded the acclaimed Total Design Bureau in 1963. Their aim was to execute design ideas that would achieve “total design” or syntheses between the various design fields. This milieu had a profound influence on Kramer and inspired him to produce rational, minimalist furniture for the new age. Iconic designs from Kramer’s career include the Eames-inspired, steal and plywood Revolt Chair (1953), a true classic of midcentury Dutch industrial design and arguably Kramer’s most famous work; Straatlantaarn Streetlight (1960) for The Hague; Facet Table (1964); the ergonomic, modular MEHES office series (1972); AKD Chair (1973); and FKS Stackable Chair and Table (1998).

Throughout the course of his career, Kramer held many acclaimed positions, including member of the Amsterdam Art Council, the Dutch Industrial Design Council, and the International Design Consortium. Kramer’s designs have been exhibited in the Stedelijik Museum in Amsterdam and the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam. He is also the recipient of the title “Royal Designer for Industry” by the Royal Society of Arts in London.

Youngest son of legendary Dutch architect-designer Gerrit Rietveld, Wim Rietveld was born in Utrecht in 1924. Though he initially apprenticed in a furniture factory in Utrecht, by 1950 he had enrolled at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague to study design while also working in his father’s firm. Soon after, designer-entrepreneur Willem Hendrik Gispen took an interest in his work and invited him to produce designs for his company.

By 1953, Rietveld was head of design at Gispen, where he developed the award-winning Furniture for a Simple Interior collection, which included the iconic 1407 Chair (1953/54). Designed in collaboration with Dutch designer André Cordemeyer, the 1407 received the gold medal at the X Triennale di Milano in 1954 and achieved great popularity in the Netherlands for both domestic and office interiors well into the 1960s. Additional standout designs by Rietveld for Gispen include the Model 116 Chair (1953), Panama Lamp (1953), Model 663 Storage System (1954), and Mondial Chair (1958)—which was created for the Dutch Pavilion at the World Expo in Brussels in 1958.

In 1958, Rietveld left the Gispen and moved to Ahrend de Cirkel, where he began a fruitful collaboration with leading Dutch designer Friso Kramer. Together they produced a number of now-iconic designs, including the Results Chair (1958) and Reply Drafting Table (1958), the latter of which received the prestigious Signe d'Or prize in Brussels in 1963. Rietveld’s own Pyramid Tables and Chairs (1960) for Ahrend De Cirkel were also highly successful and remain sought-after on the vintage market today.

Famously, Rietveld defined his design ethos as “well shaped, solid, practical, and cheap.” This rationalist approach was in line with the needs of postwar Holland. In those years, Rietveld was an active member of the Goed Wonen foundation, which was dedicated to economic recovery and better living through good design. Throughout his career, Rietveld produced functionalist seating, tables, storage and shelving systems, and lighting that were spare yet homey, efficient yet eye-catching. Plywood and steel were his materials of choice. Beyond his prolific work for Gispen and Ahrend De Cirkel, Rietveld designed for other Dutch furniture manufacturers like Auping and Kembo, among others.

From 1960, Rietveld concentrated on transportation design, while lecturing at his alma mater, the Royal Academy, as well as the Technical University in Delft. Impressed by the diversity of his skills, the Technical University of Delft appointed him Extraordinary Professor in 1973. Rietveld’s creations can be found in many Dutch institutions, like the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. He passed away in 1985.

Dutch manufacturer Ahrend De Cirkel is the union of two separate companies: Ahrend, founded by Jacobus Ahrend in 1896, and De Cirkel, founded by Jan Schröfer in 1934. In the postwar era, Ahrend De Cirkel produced furniture by some of the Netherlands’ most celebrated designers, most notably Friso Kramer and Wim Rietveld. Today, Ahrend De Cirkel originals remain highly popular on the vintage market.

In Amsterdam in 1896, Jacobus Ahrend founded Wed. J. Ahrend & Son and quickly established a niche in functional, ergonomic office furniture. In 1930, the company acquired a steel press and launched its steel furniture department. That same year, Jan Schröfer designed the Zitnrom-stoel (1931) for Ahrend. Later, in 1934, Schröfer founded the steel furniture company De Cirkel in Amsterdam, which later relocated with Ahrend to Zwanenburg. Somewhere between 1939 and 1941, Ahrend acquired a large stake in De Cirkel, and the furniture collections of each carried the stamp “Ahrend De Cirkel.”

In 1948, Friso Kramer (b. 1922)—son of accomplished architect Piet Kramer (1881-1961)—began designing for Ahrend De Cirkel. Kramer went on to become the Art Director from 1971 to 1983. Kramer’s work for Ahrend De Cirkel was crucial to its success, as he was an active member in many influential design associations and a driving force behind the development of the Dutch modernist aesthetic from the 1950s onward.

In 1953, Kramer designed the Eames-inspired, steal and plywood Revolt Chair—a true classic of midcentury Dutch design and arguably Kramer’s most famous work. An archetype of efficient industrial design, Kramer’s lightweight and affordable chair could be found in classrooms, offices, and homes around the world in the postwar era. The Revolt went out of production for decades but was reintroduced by Ahrend in 2004. The new polypropylene version won ‘Best Interior Design Product’ at the 2005 Dutch Design Awards.

In 1957, Dutch designer Wim Rietveld (1924-1985) in collaboration with his father, the legendary architect Gerrit Rietveld, designed the stackable Mondial Chair for Gispen—which was exhibited in Brussels at the World Fair in 1958. The prototype was realized in aluminum, but Gipsen preferred the chair to be manufactured in plastic. This prompted Rietveld to find a new manufacturer. In 1958, he left Gispen and moved to Ahrend De Cirkel, where he began a fruitful collaboration with Kramer that would last for many years.

Kramer and Rietveld produced a number of now-iconic designs for Ahrend De Cirkel, ranging from functionalist seating and tables, to storage and shelving systems. Kramer’s standouts include the Facet Table (1964); the ergonomic, modular MEHES office series (1972); AKD Chair (1973); and FKS Stackable Chair and Table (1998). Famous designs from Rietveld include the Result Chair (1958); Oase Chair (1958); Reply Drafting Table (1958), which received the prestigious Signe d'Or prize in Brussels in 1963; Pyramid Table and Chair (1960); and Revolve Chair (1961).

In 1967, Ahrend acquired the steel company ODA alongside De Cirkel, and the latter two became subsidiaries of Ahrend.  Today, Ahrend focuses on innovative office furniture and sustainable working environments, while still producing many of the classics from Kramer and Rietveld.

* Images courtesy of Ahrend