Metal Wardrobe Wall Panel Elements RZ 61 by Dieter Rams for Vitsoe, 1960s
View Similar Items
Metal Wardrobe Wall Panel Elements RZ 61 by Dieter Rams for Vitsoe, 1960s
About the Item
- Creator:Dieter Rams (Designer),Vitsoe (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 15.75 in (40 cm)Width: 31.5 in (80 cm)Depth: 3.94 in (10 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1960s
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Kirchlengern, DE
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU213137310333
Dieter Rams
German industrial designer Dieter Rams is revered for the pared-down, intuitive electronics and consumer goods he created for Braun — where he worked from 1955 to 1997, most of that time as chief design officer — and his timeless furniture for Vitsœ, a company with which he continues to collaborate today.
Less well known are Rams’s longstanding focus on sustainability and uneasy relationship with contemporary technology, even as Silicon Valley designers like Apple’s Jonathan Ive follow in his rational footsteps.
During Germany’s postwar rebuilding period, Rams and his team of designers at Braun, inspired by the Bauhaus and the Ulm School of Design, focused on extreme simplicity and usability while conceiving products with a modern, forward-looking appearance.
Among Rams’s most iconic designs is the SK 4 phonograph and radio, created in 1956, which had a compact white metal case topped by a revolutionary-at-the-time transparent Plexiglas lid that revealed simple gray controls inside (it was nicknamed Snow White’s Coffin). But it is the T3 portable radio, from 1958, that gets design aficionados most excited today: A white rectangular box with a perforated square for the speaker and a circular-dial control, it bears an unmistakable resemblance to Apple’s original iPod. (Many people also note that the iPhone’s calculator app looks remarkably similar to the Braun ET 66 calculator, with its circular color-coded buttons.)
In the late 1970s, Rams laid out his widely studied 10 principles for good design: It is innovative, makes a product useful, is aesthetic, makes a product understandable, is unobtrusive, is honest, is long lasting, is thorough down to the last detail, is environmentally friendly and is as little design as possible.
One of Rams’s principles that hasn’t translated to our contemporary era is his emphasis on longevity. “The time of thoughtless design and thoughtless consumption is over,” he said in 1976, stressing the need to conserve natural resources — even as he was busy designing plastic products.
Rams has also expressed reservations about how electronics have evolved in recent decades from tools for improving life to time-sucking obsessions. “Every time he crosses a street and sees people glued to their phones, he just can’t conceive of how we got to this point,” says filmmaker Gary Hustwit, whose feature-length documentary on Rams debuted in 2018. “I think he’s a little bit saddened by all this work they did in the fifties and sixties, which had a very idealistic point of view, being a stepping stone to where we are now, and the current lust for technology.”
If digital devices sometimes seem to be making life more complicated, Rams’s precept remains the same as always: “Back to purity, back to simplicity.”
Find vintage Dieter Rams furniture on 1stDibs.
- Hollywood Regency Gilded Metal Umbrella Stand by Li Puma, Firenze, Italy, 1950sBy Li Puma Firenze, Li Puma 1Located in Kirchlengern, DEArticle: umbrella stand Origin: Italy Age: 1950s Design and Producer: Li Puma, Florence in Italy This original vintage Hollywood Regency umbrella stand was produced in th...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Bauhaus Decorative Baskets
MaterialsMetal
$1,050 Sale Price20% OffFree Shipping - Set of 2 Glass Shell Bowl Elements by Per Lutken for Holmegaard, Denmark, 1960sBy Holmegaard, Per LütkenLocated in Kirchlengern, DEArticle: Glass bowl elements set of 2 Design: Per Lütken Producer: Holmegaard, Denmark Age: 1960s Set of 2 wonderful heavy glass elements designed...Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
MaterialsGlass
- Set of 2 Glass Shell Bowl Elements by Per Lutken for Holmegaard, Denmark, 1960sBy Holmegaard, Per LütkenLocated in Kirchlengern, DEArticle: Glass bowl elements set of 2 Design: Per Lütken Producer: Holmegaard, Denmark. Age: 1960s Description: Set of 2 wonderful heavy glass elem...Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
MaterialsGlass
- Modernist Adjustable Metal Sputnik Wall Light Kaiser Leuchten, 1960s, GermanyBy Kaiser LeuchtenLocated in Kirchlengern, DEArticle: wall light Producer: Kaiser Leuchten, Germany Origin: Germany Age: 1960s This vintage wall light was made by German premium light pro...Category
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsMetal
$787 Sale Price20% OffFree Shipping - Original Minimalist Adjustable Metal Wall Light, Cosack Attrib. Germany 1960sBy Cosack Leuchten, Staff Leuchten, Fog & MørupLocated in Kirchlengern, DEArticle: Wall light Origin: Germany Decade: 1960s Producer: Cosack Attrib. Description: This wall light was designed and produced in Germany in th...Category
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsMetal
$787 Sale Price20% Off - Set of 2 Pottery Elements Fat Lava Abstract Designed by Ruscha, Germany, 1960sBy RuschaLocated in Kirchlengern, DEArticle: set of 2 pottery ceramic elements Producer: Ruscha, Germany Decade: 1960s Description: This original vintage ceramic set was designed and produc...Category
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Vases
MaterialsCeramic
- 606 Shelving system, Dieter Rams for VitsœBy Dieter RamsLocated in Neuss, NWArticle Details Modular 606 shelving system by Dieter Rams for Vitsœ from the 1960s. High-quality construction consisting of eight aluminum E-Tracks, eleven shelves and three contai...Category
Antique 1660s German Mid-Century Modern Shelves
MaterialsAluminum
- 606 Shelving system, Dieter Rams for VitsœBy Dieter RamsLocated in Neuss, NWModular 606 shelving system by Dieter Rams for Vitsœ from the 1960s. High-quality construction consisting of four aluminium E Tracks, four shelves and one container with sliding door...Category
Antique 1660s German Mid-Century Modern Shelves
MaterialsAluminum
- 606 Shelving system, Dieter Rams for VitsœBy Dieter RamsLocated in Neuss, NWModular 606 shelving system by Dieter Rams for Vitsœ from the 1960s. High-quality construction consisting of two aluminium E Tracks and four shelves. Quality Features: very good...Category
Vintage 1960s German Mid-Century Modern Shelves
MaterialsAluminum
- Karl Fichtel Metal Grid Wardrobe, 1960sBy Karl FichtelLocated in Neuss, NWRare wall wardrobe from the 1960s with colorful coat hooks. High-quality metal frame with black plastic coating. Made in Germany, design: Karl Fichtel.Category
Vintage 1960s German Wardrobes and Armoires
MaterialsMetal
- Ash & Walnut Wardrobe by Bohumil Landsman for Jitona, 1960sBy Jitona, Bohumil LandsmanLocated in GNIEZNO, 30A wardrobe designed by Bohumil Landsman in the 1960s and manufactured by the Jiton Soběslav furniture factory in Czechoslovakia. Wardrobe fronts are made of interestingly grained wal...Category
Vintage 1960s Czech Mid-Century Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
MaterialsAsh, Walnut
- Large Wardrobe designed by Alfred Hendrickx, 1960s for Belform, BelgiumBy Alfred Hendrickx, BelformLocated in Antwerp, BEThis minimalist wardrobe is designed by the Belgian designer Alfred Hendrickx for Belform. Dating from 1961. This closet features two sliding doors with detailed inlay handles. On th...Category
Vintage 1960s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Wardrobes and Armoires
MaterialsWood