Vitsœ

Vitsœ

Formerly	Vitsœ & Zapf
Industry	manufacturing
Founded	1959; 66 years ago (1959)
Founder	Niels Wiese Vitsœ, Otto Zapf
Headquarters	Leamington Spa , England
Areas served	70+ countries
Key people	Dieter Rams, Mark Adams
Products	Shelving and seating
Website	vitsoe.com

Vitsœ, formerly known as Vitsœ-Zapf or Vitsœ & Zapf, is a British furniture company, originally German, known for its collaboration with Dieter Rams.[1][2] Its furniture is widely known as a German design classic. The 620 system is currently used in the German Chancellery.

History

606 Universal Shelving System designed by Dieter Rams

620 Chair Programme designed by Dieter Rams

Dieter Rams' Vitsœ furniture collection
(606 Universal Shelving, 620 Chair Programme, and 621 Table)

The company Vitsœ + Zapf was founded in Frankfurt am Main, Germany in 1959 by Danish furniture dealer Niels Vitsœ and German industrial designer Otto Zapf to produce furniture designed by Dieter Rams, who was already working for the consumer products company, Braun. Rams produced numerous furniture designs for Vitsœ, including the 606 Universal Shelving System and the 620 Chair programme. Otto Zapf left the company in 1969 and it was renamed simply ‘Vitsœ’.[3]

Following several years of financial difficulties, the company was rescued by managing director Mark Adams in the 1990s, and moved production to the United Kingdom.[4][5] In 2017 Vitsœ moved its workshop to a new HQ and production building, purpose-built out of wood and glass in Royal Leamington Spa, in central England.[6][7][8]

Products

Vitsœ produces and sells the 606 Universal Shelving System (introduced in 1960)[9] and the 620 Chair, both designed by Rams.[10]

Design critic Spencer Bailey described the system as "one of the most—if not the most—functional and well-built designs I can think of."[11]

References

1. "Master and commandments". Wallpaper (103). IPC Media: 321. October 2007. ISSN 1364-4475. OCLC 948263254. Rams designed a modular storage system, known as 606, for Vitsœ (then Vitsœ-Zapf) in 1960
2. "SFMOMA PRESENTS LESS AND MORE: THE DESIGN ETHOS OF DIETER RAMS". San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. 29 June 2011. Retrieved 10 November 2020. Simultaneous to Rams's work with Braun, he collaborated with German company Vitsœ & Zapf (later British Vitsœ), which started production of his furniture designs in 1959
3. Lovell, Sophie (2011). Dieter Rams: As Little Design as Possible. London: Phaidon. p. 190. ISBN 978-0714849188.
4. "Vitsœ, The Entrepreneurs 292 - Radio". Monocle.
5. "Mark Adams". Minimalissimo.
6. Wilson, Mark (23 October 2017). "Vitsœ's New HQ May Be The Most Beautiful Factory Ever Built". Fast Company.
7. Morris, Ali (14 October 2017). "Dream factory: the making of Vitsœ's visionary HQ". Wallpaper*. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
8. "Vitsœ completes "intentionally unfinished" cross-laminated timber office". Dezeen. 12 November 2017.
9. BRAD DUNNING; LILI GÖKSENIN (16 May 2017). "The Dieter Rams Braun Collection at Vitsœ's NYC Store Is Pure Design Brilliance". GQ Magazine. Retrieved 10 November 2020. Rams brought his refined aesthetic to Vitsœ, a small modern furniture manufacturer, and in 1960, the 606 Universal Shelving System was introduced to great acclaim
10. Alter, Lloyd. "Vitsœ's New Headquarters Show How Great Modern Architecture Is a Team Sport". Treehugger.
11. Bentley, Daniel (16 March 2020). "The greatest designs of modern times". Fortune Magazine. Retrieved 16 March 2024.

External links

• Vitsœ Website