Max Bill; ULM Chair

Iconic ULM chair

Max Bill (1908–1994), was born in Winterthur, Switzerland. An architect, painter, typographer, industrial designer, engineer, sculptor, educator, and graphic designer, Bill was initially a student at the Kunstgewerbeschule and apprenticed as a silversmith before beginning his studies in 1927 at the Bauhaus in Dessau, Germany. Bill drew upon mathematics and physics to generate his unique abstract geometric style. He employed different shapes, textures and materials to create paintings, sculptures, buildings, bridges, furniture and household utensils. 

Some of his more famous works include the "Ulmer Hocker" – or "Bill Hocker" - stool and the large granite "Pavillon" sculpture situated on Zurich's Bahnhofstrasse.

ULM Chair by Wohnbedart, designed by Max Bill
The "Ulm stool" is one of Max Bill's best-known pieces and an exemplary icon of the sleek minimalist style of 20th century mid-century modern Swiss design.  Three planks of spruce wood and a lateral wooden bar: the furniture icon is complete. The Ulm stool is simple, sleek and minimalistic. Yet at the same time one of the most versatile pieces of furniture one could possibly imagine. For the wooden block weighing just 2.1 kilos is not only a mobile seat, but also a step stool, a side table, a shelving element, a container, a serving tray and a table piece. 

More than anything else, this item of everyday furniture is a statement. In 1954, Max Bill designed the stool for the newly-founded Ulm College of Design. The Swiss designer, Max Bill, was a co-founder of the legendary institution, considered the legitimate successor to the Bauhaus. The Ulm stool arose, so to speak, out of necessity; the necessity to develop inexpensive seating for students despite a lack of funds. So Bill joined forces with tutor Hans Gugelot and master carpenter Paul Hildinger, to create an angular, minimalistic solution, which would soon become exemplary of the particular concept of product design propagated at Ulm. Its reduced, functional and above all cost-effective design made it a symbol for a completely new understanding of design. The fact that actually sitting on the stool was not necessarily comfortable was irrelevant. When the new college building opened in 1955, everyone, be they students or tutors, had an "Ulm stool"; the three-plank, multifunctional universal furniture became a central feature of the design school. 

Good design is as little design as possible: For Max Bill, the advocate of good form, an economic use of materials, low costs, functionality and durability were all considered absolutely imperative. His designs were aimed to last and not made for quick consumption. In doing so, according to the multi-talented designer, beauty is not just the outcome of successful construction, but rather also holds its own value.