Rudolf Horn (designer)
Rudolf Horn (born June 24, 1929 in Waldheim ) is a former furniture designer in the GDR and professor of design .
life and work
After Horn completed an apprenticeship as a carpenter and interior designer , he became an employee at the Ministry of Light Industry of the GDR. Soon after, he began studying at the engineering school for wood technology in Dresden, after which he graduated from the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design in Halle and then became director of the institute for furniture and interior design. There he taught from 1966 to 1997. From 1980 he also held the post of director of the product and environmental design section in the area of residential and social construction.
Horn's work in the GDR always stood in the dichotomy between the economy of shortages and the demand for design. Nevertheless, he succeeded in this balancing act: Horn developed the furniture program Deutsche Werkstätten (MDW) for the Hellerauer Werkstätten in Dresden . This varied furniture system for self-assembly was produced in large numbers from 1966 to 1990, around 500,000 units from the late 1960s, and was very common in the GDR .
In 1970 Horn started the living experiment Variable Living in Rostock , in which the residents could design apartments without fixed interior walls. Three principles were always important to Horn: openness, usefulness and simplicity.These criteria ultimately illustrate Horn's particular attention to the user and at the same time the social responsibility of his designs, which, however, must not be regarded as his unique selling point within the GDR, as other designers there also look for similar ones Maxims acted.
Inspired by Mies van der Rohe's classic Barcelona Chair , which Horn found too uncomfortable, he designed a visually similar but differently constructed cantilever chair made of stainless steel and leather. However, this was produced exclusively for export to the West . A new edition of this cantilever chair has been produced since 2019, and the Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau are responsible for sales.
Design that appears fashionable or historical is not only rejected by Horn, but also recognized as a degradation of the creative profession:
"Design that can be recruited into the army of those who serve such demands [...] not only helps to increase the mountains of rubbish around us, but also contributes to the fact that design loses its meaning as one of the socio-cultural regulators in society. "
Rudolf Horn lives in Leipzig.
Awards
In 1983 Horn received the GDR design award and in 1989 the GDR national award for art and literature.
The Grassi Museum for Applied Arts Leipzig has included the MDW program in its permanent exhibition . From August 24th to November 3rd, 2019, a solo exhibition entitled “Rudolf Horn - Living as an Open System” took place at the Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden .
literature
- Rudolf Horn: Design as an open principle , form + Zweck Verlag, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-935053-23-5
- Gerd Dietrich: Horn, Rudolf . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
Web links
- Literature by and about Rudolf Horn in the catalog of the German National Library
- Rudolf Horn , portrait at Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, February 2009
- Acknowledgment of Rudolf Horn on the website of the University of Art and Design Halle, April 2009
- Rudolf Horn , at DDR-Design
- Rudolf Horn. Design Pope of the GDR , interview film
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rudolf Horn: The "Mister IKEA" of East Germany turns 90 | MDR.DE. Retrieved August 12, 2019 .
- ↑ See Rudolf Horn: Design as an open principle , Berlin 2010, p. 122
- ↑ See archived copy ( memento of the original dated December 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. [last accessed December 5, 2014].
- ↑ In conversation: Designer Rudolf Horn - The man who furnished the GDR. Deutschlandfunk Kultur, August 12, 2019, accessed on August 12, 2019 (German).
- ↑ Rudolf Horn: Design as an open principle , Berlin 2010, p. 124
- ↑ See Rudolf Horn: Design as an open principle , Berlin 2010, p. 126
- ↑ No-frills furniture: Museum pays tribute to GDR designer Horn. dpa, accessed on August 12, 2019 .
- ↑ Rudolf Horn - Living as an open system. kunstgewerbemuseum.skd.museum, accessed on October 21, 2019 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Horn, Rudolf |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German designer and university professor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 24, 1929 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Waldheim |