Walter Zeischegg

Sinus ashtray with flat and round bottom, top view

Sinus ashtray with flat and round bottom, soffit

Walter Zeischegg (born February 5, 1917 in Vienna , † December 20, 1983 in Ulm ) was an Austrian designer .

Life

In 1921 the Zeischegg family moved to Graz. From 1932 to 1936 Walter Zeischegg attended the Federal Institute for Construction and the School of Applied Arts in Graz and then began studying sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna . He experienced the Second World War as a soldier and was only able to continue his sculpture studies in the master class of Fritz Wotruba in 1946 .

During his studies, Walter Zeischegg worked as a freelance designer (the name commonly used at the time for designers) and, among other things, dealt with the design of handles on tools, surgical instruments and machines. In the meantime, he had the desire to continue his studies at the "Institute of Design" in Chicago. On a trip through Switzerland, however, he had met Max Bill , with whom he continued to exchange letters. In 1950 Zeischegg put his artistic work on hold in order to devote more time to design. Max Bill invited the student to come to Ulm as a lecturer at the “new Bauhaus ”. After receiving his diploma, Walter Zeischegg prepared the exhibition “Hand und Griff” together with Carl Auböck .

In 1951 Zeischegg followed Bill's call and worked until 1953 in the construction office of the future Ulm School of Design as a clerk for the research institute for product form, for the workshops wood, metal, plaster, plastics and the product form department. In 1953 he became a lecturer in the product form department at the HfG Ulm. In 1968 the university was closed.

Following his teaching activity, Walter Zeischegg went into business for himself and founded a design office in Neu-Ulm . He now mainly worked for the Helit company. In addition to these industrial orders, he also devoted his attention to geometric shape studies, from which several products, such as his sinus ashtray, but also sculptures, emerged. Walter Zeischegg died in Ulm on December 20, 1983.

Web links

• Literature by and about Walter Zeischegg in the catalog of the German National Library