June
11-13, 2007
Gispen
presents at NeoCon World's Trade Fair 2007, Merchandise Mart,
Chicago, IL
Designs
by European
Office Furniture leader Gispen have been historically recognized
for their innovative nature. Consistent quality beginning in
1916 with the Gispen 412 easy chair to the most recent state
of the art, Gispen SUM, a multifunctional stand and sit module
and the Gispen NL have afforded Gispen the title of “Elite”
in design, quality and class. Creating a better Life at Work
emphasizes the necessity for applied science of equipment design,
known as ergonomics for the workplace. Gispen’s design,
concepts and material use are intended to maximize productivity
by reducing fatigue and discomfort as recognized in the Gispen
Soft-Top, the MEOS (Multi Environment Office Space) and current
showcase in Living Tomorrow.
Gispen
History
Industrial Designer, Willem Hendrik Gispen (1890-1981), specialized
in wrought iron and ornamental metalwork. His vision was to
carry his designs to the Office Furniture world and so began
the inception of Gispen in 1916.
The first
steel tube chairs were delivered in 1929 from the factory located
in the Netherlands. This particular factory was standardized
to manufacture steel furniture in serial production. The majority
of the earl product lines are currently sold in large quantities.
Exhibition
of the Giso-lamps and furniture at the International fair “Die
Wohnung” in Stuttgart, Germany in 1927 was a footprint
in history for Gispen. Renowned designers like Mart Stam, Mies
van der Rohe, J.J.P. Oud and others were less favored than Gispen,
as these Bauhaus designers did not own a factory of their own,
as did Gispen.
The success
of Stuttgart’s fair led to more International activities.
Competition with the likes of Gerrit Rietveld, Marcel Breuer
and Le Corbusier, Gispen boasted showrooms in Brussels, Paris,
London, Cape Town and Willemstad (Curaco).
The highly
respected Willem Hendrik Gispen was considered to be “the
most important” Dutch representative of the so-called
“ Functionalism” as his emphasis focused on the
esthetical part of his design creations.
Design, Innovation and Quality are the central focal points
of Gispen and remain as the core values. In his last interview,
in 1981 with Max Danser for “Pulchri”, Willem Hendrik
Gispen again emphasized his values in design, development and
production of products, stating:
“When
you make something, you may as well make it good!” “You
have to study the user and the required use in order for your
product to work properly.”
The Town
Hall of Hilversum and the Van Nelle factory in Rotterdam are
now considered to be monuments featuring Gispen on the Unesco
list of Monuments.\
Followed
by Willem Hendrik Gispen in 1949 was Wim Rietveld. Rietveld
brought with him a completely new range of designs from home
furniture products such as chairs, sofas, cabinets and tables.
These products distinguished themselves from that of existing
products. Standardized components were again innovatively designed
to create variations.
Home furniture
design ceased in the 1970’s as Gispen deemed the necessity
of focus toward that of the future in office furniture. Concepts
and innovation with the new designs of that era were put into
production, notably the KT and ST.
More recent
times have brought into existence products like the Gispen Next
(1994), a four legged “building block” system and
the Gispen MEOS (Multi Environment Office Space). Office concept
emphasizing activity related to work environments and workstations,
Gispen SoftTop, a table concept, prevents RSI by using a PUR
foam covered tabletop. Gispen’s Sum, created by Ben van
Berkel Sum rethinks the workstation in order to liberate the
work process.
Gispen
Vision
Visions of Gispen are never stale or out dated, focus and commitment
to the needs of the future in the presence of today, are at
the core of beliefs as seen in the Living Tomorrow project in
Amsterdam (www.livingtomorrow.nl). Products displayed are either
ready to market or near to market, specific to the client. Note;
the office of the future with product designs such as Gispen
ClubDesk, Gispen T-Desk, Gispen QB, Gispen SideCart and the
conceptual Reflex and the ElasTop can easily add luxury to your
home or commercial office.
A step ahead of technological, social, economic and cultural
developments has prided Gispen with international corporate
clients, such as Philips, Unilever, CMG Logica, ABN AMRO, Hewlett
Packard. Whether the office environment is commercial or the
up and coming home office, Gispen’s internal resources
are able to satisfy client requirements with ease.
Contact:
John Venneman
Manager Corporate Marketing
Gispen International BV
Parallelweg West 23
4104 AZ Culemborg
Tel: +31-34-547-4211
Cell: +31-6-5339-5642
Fax: +31-34-552-0169
john.venneman@gispen.nl
www.gispen.nl
