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| Reduction as a principle: Wilkhahn restages design icon to mark anniversary [05-30-2007] Enthusiasts for avant-garde design will be delighted. Office furniture manufacturer Wilkhahn is bringing out a special, limited edition of the red “Schaukelplastik” (“Rocking Sculpture”) from the 1950s by designer Walter Papst to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the company. This “toy” has long since become a design icon and epitomizes the values that Wilkhahn stands for throughout the world: quality, innovation and design consistently reduced to essentials. Bad Münder. Fascinated by the wide scope afforded by the new material − GRP (glass fibre-reinforced plastic), Walter Papst designed a complete range of furniture for children from the mid-1950s onwards that Wilkhahn produced in series until the end of the 1960s. The “Rocking Sculpture” became the icon of the range. Its abstract design and the avoidance of the term “Rocking Horse” were an expression of the emancipatory approach of the designers associated with the Werkbund, Bauhaus and the Ulm Academy of Design. The aim was not to restrict one’s childlike fantasy by means of concrete paragons and giving the object a name. The functional form, consistently reduced to essentials, received the “Good Toy” award in Ulm in 1960 and also won a prize at the Triennale di Milano in 1961.  100 years of innovative product design: Wilkhahn restages the Rocking Sculpture by Walter Papst to mark company anniversary. Design made in Germany The “design mark”, which has been used for the restage, follows such a design orientation: it was developed in the sixties at the Ulm Academy of Design by Tomás Gonda as an abstract rendering of a seating unit and continued to shape Wilkhahn corporate design until well into the 1980s. Although Wilkhahn design has changed in the meantime, the basic approach has remained: first-class design is not created by adding formal effects or fashionable attitudes, but by reduction to essentials. In the combination of form, innovation and quality, Wilkhahn creates products that provide the simplest, the most logical and most enduring solution possible to complex tasks, and ones that are regarded as models of excellence of “Design made in Germany” throughout the world.  The design mark by Tomás Gonda shaped Wilkhahn corporate design for a long time. New edition conforms to safety standards For the new edition produced in collaboration with the wiege design studio, the original design has been carefully adapted to conform to current safety requirements for toys. This new version has been tested and approved for use by children. However, to satisfy purists and collectors, handles according to the original design are also enclosed. Should these original handles be mounted, the Rocking Sculpture no longer conforms to the test criteria, and the CE approved label loses its validity. The new edition is limited to 1,500 copies throughout the world; each one will be supplied with a consecutively numbered certificate. The design icon may be ordered from Wilkhahn for EUR 480 + VAT at monika.zacher@wilkhahn.de.  Exhibition and events to mark anniversary The new edition of the “Rocking Sculpture” is only the start of various activities to celebrate the company’s anniversary. The platform at this year’s Design Annual in Frankfurt focuses on highlights from 100 years of Wilkhahn history. A special exhibition at Headquarters in Bad Münder will also be showcasing milestones of corporate history. In addition, two events will be devoted to the past and the future of the office furniture market. In the summer, Wilkhahn is also publishing a book that illustrates the company’s global operating range. And there will of course also be a celebration: a huge staff party will be taking place in Bad Münder on 20 July.
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