Mid2Mod: Willy Guhl

Willy Guhl (1915-2004) was a Swiss industrial designer and a leader in the Swiss neo-functional design movement. He was one of the first advocates of flat-packed furniture, later made famous by the Swedish chain Ikea, saying that more people would be able to afford good design if it could be assembled in their homes.

Guhl's trademark piece was the Loop Chair, designed for Eternit in 1954. It was made of a single piece of material, a combination of asbestos and cement, bent to form a loop and designed according to his motto of "achieving the most with the minimum of effort." The chair is now made with a cement and fiber mixture which does not contain asbestos.

Other famous Guhl designs are the Scobalit chair and various window boxes, planters, tables, standing ashtrays, and modular pieces he created for the company Eternit AG.

He trained as a cabinetmaker before attending the Zurich School of Applied Arts, where the eventually taught for 39 years.

From nytimes.com, swissinfo.ch, and design-museum.de