Otto Zapf

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Otto Zapf (born August 10, 1931 in Roßbach , Czechoslovakia ; † June 28, 2018 in Königstein im Taunus ) was a German industrial designer.

life and work

Zapf studied mathematics and physics at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main . His career as an industrial designer began in 1956. He designed furniture with Rolf Schmidt, Dieter Rams and Günther Kieser . In 1959 he founded the company Vitsoe & Zapf with Niels Wiese Vitsœ in Frankfurt . Vitsoe was able to acquire a very good reputation by selling the furniture line designed by Dieter Rams. But Otto Zapf left the joint company in 1970.

Zapf then concentrated on working as a designer for other companies. He designed system furniture such as the Zapf Office System for the manufacturer Knoll International . These furniture systems set revolutionary standards in terms of use and flexibility at a time when open-plan offices were gaining ground as a modern mass phenomenon. The largest order in furniture history at the time was carried out for Pacific Telephone . For example, 7,500 workstations for the company were equipped with the Zapf furniture system. As a result, Zapf worked on other projects. The creation of the office furniture system Office chair collection for Knoll International and the shelving system Management Office for Vitra achieved high sales figures. Zapf designed the Lobbytop armchair range for the Minden-based furniture manufacturer . For this he was awarded the industrial design prize iF Industrie Forum Design of the Hanover Fair .

Web links

credentials

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter-Philipp Schmitt: Furniture designer Otto Zapf: He stayed seated on the last draft . In: FAZ.NET . ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed November 19, 2018]).
  2. ↑ Weltverbesserer from Eschborn in FAZ of January 17, 2014, page 8
personal data
SURNAME Zapf, Otto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German industrial designer
DATE OF BIRTH August 10, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Rossbach , Czechoslovakia , today: Czech Republic
DATE OF DEATH June 28, 2018
Place of death Königstein im Taunus