Vitsoe

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Vitsoe
Private
IndustryManufacturing
Founded1959; 65 years ago (1959)
FounderNiels Vitsœ
HeadquartersRoyal Leamington Spa,
United Kingdom
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
  • Dieter Rams (Industrial designer)
  • Mark Adams (Managing Director)
ProductsDesign furniture
Websitevitsoe.com

Vitsœ (pronounced ‘vit-soo’)[1], is an English company based in Royal Leamington Spa[2] that manufactures modular furniture designed by Dieter Rams.[3] Its products include the 606 Universal Shelving System[4], 620 Chair Programme[5] and the 621 Table.[6]

History

The company Vitsoe + 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’.[7]

In 1985 Mark Adams founded a British subsidiary, Vitsœ Ltd, for the distribution of furniture to the UK market. On Niels Vitsœ’s retirement, Adams became managing director and moved the company headquarters and production to London, United Kingdom, in 1995.[1] In 2017 Vitsœ moved its workshop to a new purpose-built HQ and production building in Royal Leamington Spa in central England.[8]

Products

The 606 Universal Shelving System was designed by Dieter Rams in 1960 and has been made by Vitsœ ever since. It is an adaptable, modular, track-based, wall-mounted storage system. The system consists of numerous interchangeable components and allows multiple configuration possibilities.[9] It is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.[10]

The 620 Chair Programme was designed by Dieter Rams in 1962. It was designed as a kit of parts which allows a single chair to be converted into a multi-seat sofa. In 1969 its design was copied. In 1973 – following a prolonged court case – the 620 Chair Programme was granted copyright protection. It was re-engineered and relaunched by Vitsœ and Dieter Rams in 2013.[5] The 620 Chair was made part of the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1970.[11]

The 621 Table was designed by Dieter Rams in 1962 as the partner to the 620 Chair Programme. Vitsœ and Dieter Rams re-engineered the table in 2014 for modern manufacturing methods.[6]

Documentary

Vitsœ and managing director Mark Adams feature in filmmaker Gary Hustwit’s documentary Rams. The full-length film released in 2018 is an exploration of Dieter Rams’s life, his design philosophy and some of his most iconic designs.[12]

In the media

              

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "History: a single-minded business, since 1959". Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  2. "A to Z of Modern Living: future-proof design at furniture manufacturer Vitsœ's headquarters in Leamington Spa". themodernhouse.com. 31 December 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  3. Lange, Alexandra (28 November 2018). "What We've Learned from Dieter Rams, and What We've Ignored". The New Yorker. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  4. Le Brun, Lily. "The Vitsoe 606 Universal Shelving System by Dieter Rams". The Financial Times. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  5. 5.0 5.1 "Dieter Rams 620 Chair Programme relaunched by Vitsœ". 10 May 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Griffiths, Alyn (13 March 2014). "Vitsœ relaunches 621 Side Table by Dieter Rams". Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  7. Lovell, Sophie (2011). Dieter Rams: As Little Design as Possible. London: Phaidon. p. 190. ISBN 978-0714849188.
  8. Morris, Ali (14 October 2017). "Dream factory: the making of Vitsœ's visionary HQ". Wallpaper*. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  9. Klemp, Klaus (2009). Less and More: The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams. Gestalten. p. 299. ISBN 978-3-89955-277-5.
  10. "Dieter Rams 606 Universal Shelving System 1960". moma.org. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  11. "RZ 62". collections.vam.ac.uk. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  12. "Rams". hustwit.com. 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2020.

External links

This article "Vitsoe" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles taken from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be accessed on Wikipedia's Draft Namespace.