Friso Kramer Asmeta double bookcase for Bijenkorf, 1953

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Friso Kramer Asmeta double bookcase for Bijenkorf, 1953

About the Item

Rare double metal bookcase and shelving unit designed by Friso Kramer for de Beijenkorf, produced by Asmeta in 1953. Martin Visser commissioned Friso Kramer to design a simple usable shelving unit for de Bijenkorf. These bookcases were designed in the colors of De Bijenkorf in the 1950s. De Bijenkorf is an exclusive department store still existing and selling high quality clothes brands, watches. But also toys, books and expensive design of course. This modular shelving unit has dark blue sides and yellow backsides and which can be adjusted in any wanted composition. This unit is complete and in a very good cleaned condition, only the white parts have been professionally refinished with preservation of authenticity. This is for a rare double bookcase which can also be used as room divider, nicely finished all around and in very good clean condition. Very nice modernist bookcase unit. The designs of Friso Kramer are highly sought after because of their progressive designs. Even though this chair was designed in 1953, this is still in production at Ahrend. With few modern changes to the materials but the shape is still identical. Friso Kramer was a functionalist, all of his pieces are well thought about and amazingly executed. Even though most of his designs were produced in large numbers the process before that was really intense and time taking. And the result of that was a great production process with fantastic ergonomic result. Friso Kramer is often compared to Jean Prouve. Musea often show the Revolt chair next to the Standard chair by Jean Prouve, not without reason. We are specialized in the industrial designs by Friso Kramer and we have built a large collection of Friso Kramer furniture. If there is anything you are interested in please contact us with your request.

Creator:
Friso Kramer (Designer)
Dimensions:
Height: 76.78 in (195 cm)Width: 74.81 in (190 cm)Depth: 10.24 in (26 cm)
Style:
Mid-Century Modern (In the Style Of)
Materials and Techniques:
Metal,Cold-Painted
Place of Origin:
Netherlands
Period:
1950-1959
Date of Manufacture:
1953
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use. White parts are professionally repainted in original colour.
Seller Location:
Roosendaal, NL
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU933015474562

Shop All Friso Kramer

Friso Kramer

Through both his bold furniture designs and his teaching and administrative positions within the architecture and design industries, the solution-oriented Friso Kramer helped elevate industrial design to a venerated place in the modernist canon.

While the mid-century years saw no shortage of function-minded modernists, Kramer may have been the most extreme of them. “If form does not contribute to the function, it has no right to exist,” the Dutch designer once said. Born in Amsterdam in 1922 to the pioneering architect Piet Kramer, Friso studied architecture, industrial design, electrical engineering and interior design. He cut his teeth in the studios of architect Jan Piet Kloos and interior designer Frans Paulussen, then, in 1948, went to work as a designer at the steel furniture manufacturer De Cirkel (part of the Ahrend group), where he would design some of his best-known work.

The 1953 Revolt chair, which is among his most celebrated seating and a darling of Dutch mid-century modernism, embodied Kramer’s function-first design; its skeletal, industrial form provides for maximum comfort and ergonomic support with minimal material. He joined forces with Wim Rietveld, son of celebrated Dutch modernist Gerrit Rietveld, for the 1958 Result chair, which married elements of the Revolt with forms from Rietveld’s Pyramid series. Kramer found numerous ways to riff on and perfect his brand of minimalism: The 1960 Resort and Repose armchairs demonstrate how he slightly tweaked the skeletal frames for different postures and uses.

In 1963, Kramer left Ahrend to found Total Design Studio with Wim Crouwel, Benno Wissing and Paul and Dick Schwartz. The firm grouped graphic, industrial and spatial design under one roof with the shared belief in functionalism. Though Total Design Studio is still in business today, Kramer left the company to return to Ahrend in 1971, serving as art director until 1983. Following Kramer’s death in 2019, Ahrend teamed up with Danish design brand HAY to relaunch the Result and Revolt chairs.

Find vintage Friso Kramer chairs, sofas, tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.