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Willy Guhl Steel and Concrete Design Bench, Switzerland, 1950s

Name: Willy Guhl Steel and Concrete Design Bench, Switzerland, 1950s
Brand: Willy Guhl
Price: 16362.59 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

Mid-century floating bench designed by Swiss Architect Willy Guhl. Seater concrete monocoque is in good condition and the tubular steel base has been completely restored, sanded and repainted with orange paint. Work carried out by a professional car/vehicle body repairer and painter. Generally these benches are found in fiberglass. This fiber-concrete version is much rarer. Willy Guhl was well known for its minimal designs which is clearly visible in the design of this bench. Perfect for a minimalist decoration, in a garden, around a swimming pool. This bench was bought by an architect-decorator in the 1950s to decorate a classy French house. Good condition. Swiss neo-functionalist designer Willy Guhl (1915–2004) was an innovative furniture designer, product designer, and early proponent of mass-produced, flat-packed furniture that made high-quality designs accessible to the greater number. Guhl is best remembered for his cement designs produced by the Swiss company Eternit. Born in 1915 in Stein-am-Rhein in German-speaking Switzerland, Guhl trained as a cabinetmaker at the School of Applied Arts in Zurich and opened his own design studio and workshop in 1939. The Bankstuhl rectangular seat (1941) — consisting of a rattan seat and armrest allowing the formation of a line of seats when combined with other models - is among his first furniture designs for Röthlisberger. Guhl held the position of professor of interior design at the university where he had studied and then became director in 1951 and established the first Product Design center in Switzerland. During post-war reconstruction in Europe, Guhl helped design low-cost, easy-to-build social housing. Guhl was motivated by the desire to discover innovative ways of building houses that required the development of modern technologies and materials. The Swiss designer was among the first to create furniture from fiberglass, of which the Scobalit Chair (dating from the late 1940s) is a good example. In 1951, the Swiss company Eternit, which initially specialized in fiber-reinforced concrete roofs and coverings, commissioned Guhl—and his students at the School of Applied Arts—to design plant containers. The use of asbestos as a reinforcing element creates a product that is elegant, stable and robust. Eternit formed a vital part of Guhl's teaching, focused on realizing the potential of new materials. Designs produced by the student group included the Elephant Ear Planter (1951), produced by arranging fabric-like Eternit concrete on a mold before turning it over, and the Spindle Planter (1951) in the shape of an hourglass or diabolo designed by Guhl and his then student Anton Bee. In 1954, Guhl designed the Loop Chair for Eternit, which quickly became a mid-century classic and his most recognized design. This garden chair resembling a strip of ribbon perfectly personifies his favorite adage: “achieve maximum results with minimum effort”. This piece received the Gute Form prize and is exhibited at the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein in Germany and at the Museum für Gestaltung in Zurich. Due to the carcinogenic nature of asbestos, Eternit ceased production of the Guhl garden chair in 1980. After being on display for just two weeks at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2001, it was removed from the institution for health reasons. German and Swiss museums have sealed the surface of the chair to eliminate any risk of exposure. Guhl retired from teaching in 1981 but continued to work as a designer. During his career, Guhl won acclaim for his work as a designer and was the subject of a 1985 retrospective entitled "Willy Guhl: Designer and Teacher at the Museum für Gestaltung" in Zurich. He notably co-founded the Association of Swiss Interior Designers (Vereinigung Schweizer Innenarchitekten) in 1943 and the Association of Swiss Industrial Designers in 1966. In 1998, Guhl revised the design of its famous Loop Chair by removing asbestos. Its production, in addition to that of the Loop Side Table, was reestablished by Eternit in 2000. Guhl died in his hometown in 2004 at the age of 89.

Creator:

Willy Guhl (Designer)

Dimensions:

Height: 27.56 in (70 cm)Width: 78.75 in (200 cm)Depth: 31.89 in (81 cm)Seat Height: 18.9 in (48 cm)

Style:

Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)

Materials and Techniques:

Concrete,Steel

Place of Origin:

Switzerland

Period:

Mid-20th Century

Date of Manufacture:

1950

Condition:

Refinished. Wear consistent with age and use. Minor fading. The iron structure has been completely restored, sanded and repainted with orange paint. Work carried out by a professional car/vehicle body repairer and painter.

Seller Location:

leucate, FR

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU7285236503092

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Shop All Willy Guhl

Willy Guhl

Decades prior to the mass popularity of neo-industrial cement floors and furniture taking shape, there was Willy Guhl. The Swiss creative is considered one of the first “industrial” designers in his home country. He pioneered a rugged, organic style of modern furniture and decor — stylish planters, shapely seating and lots more — that remains widely coveted by many today.

Guhl was born in 1915 in Stein am Rhein and worked as a carpenter before beginning studies at the Zurich School of Applied Arts (known today as the Zurich University of the Arts), where he would go on to teach for nearly 40 years.

While Guhl is well-known for his range of provocative garden elements as well as his patio and outdoor furniture, today’s legion of mid-century modern enthusiasts are likely familiar with the designer’s iconic Loop chair (introduced in 1954). For this sculptural seat and other furnishings, Guhl tended toward industrial materials, which he bent and shaped into organic forms for a striking juxtaposition. Much of his work is crafted from either concrete or Eternit, a mixture of cement and asbestos developed by the Belgian company Etex, which, in the 1950s, commissioned Guhl and his students at the School of Applied Arts to conceive planters in the material. The resulting vessels — some hourglass-shaped, some in the form of handkerchiefs, all suitable for indoors or exteriors — remain some of Guhl’s most collectible pieces.

Guhl’s affiliation with the Swiss “neo-functional” movement centered on the idea of simplifying design without sacrificing form. According to Guhl, his mission was “achieving the most with the minimum of effort.”

In addition to his work as a designer, Guhl left his mark on subsequent creatives through his 39-year tenure at his alma mater, where he was instructor to the likes of Robert Haussmann, Kurt Thut and Bruno Rey. Modern-day shoppers at IKEA owe Guhl a debt of gratitude too. He was an early advocate of flat-pack furniture, championing its ability to make good design more widely accessible.

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

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