Six steel and bent oak ply chairs designed by Friso Kramer for Ahrend Cirkel, 1950s. Dutch.
All the steel frames are the same, and the ply seats and backs are contemporaneous with the frames. However there are two the same but of slightly varying shape from four.
They all smoothly adjust up and down and are all structurally sound, with no restorations. The circular knob twists to lossen or tighten the adjustable upright to fix it in any chosen position.
The work of Dutch designer Friso Kramer (1922-) plays a significant role in the development of the national style from the 1940s until today. As an industrial and furniture designer, and as a member of influential groups and movements, Kramer's ideas and creations have consistently worked to propel the modernist aesthetic of the Netherlands.
Kramer was part of the "Goed Wonen" ("Good Living") foundation in the 1950s; a group committed to restoring the country's war-damaged quality of life. Their working goal was to diminish the existence of the current "lack of style, scarcity of material and the housing shortage" caused by WWII. The members of the foundation gave lectures, exhibited their work widely in Amsterdam and put out a journal, which offered tips for and articles about modern living and the burgeoning modern style. The foundation enjoyed a strong impact on the community because of the innovative and successful collaboration forged between the designers, architects, manufacturers, retailers and customers. While he was a part of the group, Kramer created a series of molded plywood and steel chairs, obviously inspired by the contemporaneous work of the Eames, for the company De Cirkel. The chairs featured a rounded seat, which curved down gently at the edge and a separate, slightly cupped, back. This 1953 chair, called "Revolt," was a popular icon of the emerging Dutch style at the 1954 Milan Triennial, where Kramer also exhibited a metal table and hanging cupboard.
Throughout the 1950s Kramer taught at the Hague Academy for the Visual Arts. Their courses ran on Friday nights and throughout the day on Saturday, attracting a broader range of people than a traditional school. He also began designing more industrial objects like the 1958 "Davoronde" oil heater for the Davo Company. Although its elliptical shape was stylish and functional as a space-saver, the piece was never a huge success. The group Total Design which he helped establish in 1963 with Wim Crouwel, Benno Wissing, Paul and Dick Schwartz was, however, a great success. With the aim to "develop and execute ideas on design in all fields, in order, where possible, to achieve a unity of ideas, or 'total design' in these fields," the group took on a number of commissions and projects before Kramer left in 1967.
Kramer designed the popular MEHES series of office furniture in 1972 for the Ahrend/Oda Company, where he was director of design. The name was an acronym for the needs he had outlined as those of priority within an office: mobility, efficiency, humanization, environment and standardization. Much like Robert Propst's "Action Office" for Herman Miller in the 1960s, the MEHES group created an ergonomic, modular and distinctly modern office environment. In 1986 Kramer designed an experimental seat and bed unit for the De Waal Company.
One of the most well known designs of Friso Kramer is the Dutch street lantern with a white conical lamp and flat lid. In 1977, and 1978, a retrospective exhibition was held at the Urban Museum in Amsterdam, and in 1991, in the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam. Kramer was on the Board of Governors of the Gerrit Academy and Amsterdam art Council.
