(smow)offline: Wilhelm Wagenfeld “Weiterwirken in die Zeit hinein”

Wilhelm Wagenfeld (Photo © Wilhelm Wagenfeld Stiftung)

While we are in Milan enriching the good and fair minded hoteliers of the north-Italian Metropolis; life here in Germany will continue in its normal, non-bloodsucking, non-money grabbing way.

Oh yes, we’re bitter. And we don’t believe that all the other Milan attendees find the hotel prices fair. Just they are too cowardly to publicly complain. Milan Design Week is a rip off and everybody knows it. Just know one dare speak it…..

However, back to the topic in hand.

Thursday 15th April sees the opening of a retrospective of the work of Bremen born designer Wilhelm Wagenfeld. Organised by the Wilhelm Wagenfeld Stiftung the exhibition shows for the first time Wagenfeld’s produced work in conjunction with original sketches, advertising and packaging. In addition letters, photos and private documents allow the exhibition to present a full, 360 degrees, impression of the man, his life and his work.

As with Marianne Brandt – his former colleague in the Bauhaus metal workshop – Wilhelm Wagenfeld belonged to that group of Bauhaus graduates who concentrated on created everyday items: a specialisation that places a particular emphasis on the designers understanding of aesthetic, form and geometry.

Teekanne for Jenaer Glaswerk Schott & Gen., Wilhelm Wagenfeld, 1931,© Wilhelm Wagenfeld Stiftung, Foto Jens Weyers, Bremen

Not that Wagenfelds work was only art. Products such as Tea Pot for Jena Glass beautifully demonstrates how Wagenfeld’s work was also practical and always undertaken from the perspective of the final end user.

Industrial design for the individual.
And that 40 years before industrial design even existed.

Wilhelm Wagenfeld’s most famous design, the so-called Bauhaus lamp WA 24, is naturally also part of the exhibition.

For those wanting to better understand Wilhelm Wagenfeld “Weiterwirken in die Zeit hinein”  looks like an excellent starting point.

Wilhelm Wagenfeld “Weiterwirken in die Zeit hinein” runs from 16th April until 12th September 2010 in the Wilhelm Wagenfeld Haus, Am Wall 209, 28195 Bremen.

Full details can be found here.

German stamp with the "Bauhaus Lamp" EA 24 by Wilhelm Wagenfeld.Entwurf Ingo Wulff, 1998