Wim Rietveld (1924-1985)

Wim RIETVELD (Utrecht 1924 - Badhoevedorp 1985)

Son of the well-known architect and designer Gerrit Rietveld, has had a technical education. He then went on to work as a manufacturer of large appliances. He worked, among others, for Servo Balans, a company that manufactured large exclusive weighing equipment for the industry. From 1950 Wim Rietveld trained as a designer at the Royal Academy in The Hague. The quality of his graduation work was reason for Willem Gispen to invite him for a position at the Gispen company of the same name. At that time, the Netherlands was undergoing reconstruction and there was a scarcity of materials.

Wim Rietveld was employed by Gispen from 1953 to 1957. Rietveld was good at balancing functionality and aesthetics and devising simple production techniques. His motto was: 'Good shape, solid, practical and cheap'. He preferred not to use tube for legs, but much thinner solid round steel. The advantage of this is that it visually attracts less attention and it is easier and therefore cheaper to bend. He also introduced the technique of foam seat cushions and the pressing of plywood.

Rietveld was a designer who spoke the technical language and who was a constructor; constructor from within, the elements grouped logically and adapted to the possibilities of the machine park or to the raw material that could be purchased well and cheaply from the trade. In addition to “furniture for the simple interior”, Rietveld also contributed to the development of office furniture, such as the American-looking President office chair. But he also designed other home furniture and lighting fixtures. Rietveld once said about this: "Fortunately I had the freedom to do so and the management appeared to respond enthusiastically". In 1957, together with his father, he designed the Mondial chair, a stackable and linkable chair, which was exhibited at the 1958 World's Fair in Brussels. Rietveld was responsible for the technology in this design. The prototype of this chair is made of aluminum. For production, Gispen preferred a polyester version. This choice made Rietveld decide, among other things, to start working for the company De Cirkel, a company that made steel furniture and installations. He worked there until 1970. The years that he worked for Vicon, an agricultural machinery company (1959-1979), were also successful. Together with Wim Groeneboom, Wim designed the first Amsterdam metro and he worked for many other companies, such as Werkspoor train interiors and Inventum household appliances. From 1960 to 1975 Rietveld was a teacher at the Royal Academy in The Hague and from 1970 to 1979 at the Technische Hogeschool in Delft. There he supervised future designers, including Jan Jacobs. He was much loved by the students.