series of editorials on prominent designers

german product designer wilhelm wagenfeld is most famous for his eponymous table lamp and teaching with the bauhaus collective in the 1920’s. yet across wagenfeld’s long and productive life these were just brief episodes.

from the 1920’s through to the 1970’s he taught at a number of art schools, designed everything from salt & pepper sets to music players, and received awards at the milan triennale and the paris world fair.

Wilhelm Wagenfeld wearing glasses, writing on a white bowl with a black pencil

Wilhelm Wagenfeld, 1953. Photo: courtesy of Wilhelm Wagenfeld Stiftung.

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born in Bremen, Germany

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Water jugs designed by Wilhelm Wagenfeld and their sketches

to be useful is to be beautiful. —wilhelm wagenfeld

Photo of young Wilhelm Wagenfeld smoking a pipe

Portrait of Wilhelm Wagenfeld, 1920–1925. Photo via Bauhaus 100.

 

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