Readymag Stories: Wilhelm Wagenfeld

stories

wilhelm wagenfeld

WA 24 table lamp designed by Wilhelm Wagenfeld in 1924, re-editioned by Technolumen in 1980. © Joachim Fliegner. Photo: courtesy of Wilhelm Wagenfeld Stiftung.

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.

born in Bremen, Germany

Water jugs designed by Wilhelm Wagenfeld and their sketches

Water jugs with sketches according to the design of Wilhelm Wagenfeld, 1940. Execution: Vereinigte Lausitzer Glaswerke. Photo via Getty Images.

student at a drawing academy in Hanau

WG 25 GL table lamp designed by Wilhelm Wagenfeld. A white glass lamp with a brass tube

Bauhaus Lamp designed by Wilhelm Wagenfeld. A white glass lamp with a brass tube

WG 25 GL table lamp designed by Wilhelm Wagenfeld in 1925 and re-editioned by Technolumen. Material: nickel plated metal, opaque globe, clear glass base. © Technolumen. T ecnolumen.com

Bauhaus Lamp designed by Wilhelm Wagenfeld, 1924. Photo by Joachim Fliegner. Wilhelm Wagenfeld Stiftung, Bremen / © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2016.

student at Bauhaus in Weimar

director in the metal workshops of the Bauhaus in Weimar

Sintrax, 3/4-Liter coffee maker. A coffee maker made of transparent glass with a black handle

Sintrax, 3/4-Liter coffee maker, author: Gerhard Marcks / production: Jenaer Glaswerke Schott & Gen. / enhancement: Wilhelm Wagenfeld, around 1925. Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau / © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2018.

worked for German glass factories

wins the Golden Medal at the World Fair in Paris

Vase of blue glass designed by Wilhelm Wagenfeld for Vereinigte Lausitzer Glaswerke, 1936. © Pamono. Pamono.com

professor at the College of Fine Arts in Berlin

Metal serving tongs designed by Wilhelm Wagenfeld

Turmalin set of smoked glass vases designed by Wilhelm Wagenfeld for the Württembergische Metallwaren Fabrik (WMF) in the 1950-s. © Pamono. Pamono.com

Serving tongs designed by Wilhelm Wagenfeld for the Württembergische Metallwaren Fabrik (WMF), 1970. © Pamono. Pamono.com

artistic director at a metalware factory in Stuttgart

runs independent design bureau, Werkstatt Wagenfeld

dies in Bremen

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.

bright start

At age 16 Wagenfeld began an apprenticeship in industrial drafting at the Koch & Bergfeld silverware factory in Bremen alongside studies at the Bremen School of Applied Arts. From 1919 to 1922 Wagenfeld studied at the Hanau Drawing Academy on a scholarship. All this training had a massive impact on the level of skill Wilhelm would achieve in his career.

Fat lean saucer designed by Wilhelm Wagenfeld in 1924, re-editioned by Technolumen. Material: sterling silver 925/1000, ebony. © Technolumen. Tecnolumen.com

i strive to create top quality items that are cheap enough for the poor and good enough for the rich. —wilhelm wagenfeld

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