W. H. Gispen

Who was W. H. Gispen?

Willem Hendrik Gispen was a Dutch industrial designer and architect, best known for his Modernist steel tube office furniture and lighting designs. He was a founding member of the Opbouw architectural movement in the Netherlands. Gispen's Rotterdam factory produced serial production lamps and furniture, which were widely distributed throughout Europe. His Modernist aesthetic was well marketed and his advertisements brought forth some of the Netherlands' earliest typographers and photographers onto the international Modernist stage. Gispen's designs are noted for their contributions to the burgeoning international Functionalist style epitomized by the Bauhaus school. Two of the most noted examples of Gispen's early work are the Giso lamp series and the Gispen Diagonal Chair.