Max Bill was a Swiss architect, graphic designer, painter, sculptor and product designer who created an impressive array of minimalist works during his lifetime. In addition to iconic clocks, watches, and other design objects, Bill designed buildings as well as numerous sculptures and paintings in his pure, refined style.
Max Bill: a biography
Max Bill was born in 1908 in Winterthur, Switzerland. He initially trained as a silversmith at the School of Applied Art in Zurich. He then went on to study at the Bauhaus in Dessau, and from 1929 began working in Zurich as an architect, painter, graphic artist and sculptor. Bill's output during this period was dominated by painting, which ranged from landscape paintings and portraits, to geometric and constructivist abstractions. In 1932, Max Bill joined the artist's group “Abstraction-Création” and became one of the most important representatives of the Concrete art movement.
Max Bill's artistic career influenced his design practice significantly, and he became known for his use of clean lines, elegantly defined forms and precise proportions. One of the most famous examples of his work is the Chronoscope mechanical watch designed for the manufacturer Junghans, which he began work on in 1956.
As the first director of the Ulm School of Design that opened in 1953 in Ulm, Germany, Max Bill tried to carry forward the Bauhaus traditions he had learned in Dessau. From 1967 to 1974, he was a professor of environmental design at the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg.
Ulmer Stool: minimal design, maximum utility
With the motto “minimal design, maximum utility,” Max Bill and Dutch designer Hans Gugelot, designed the simple Ulmer Stool for the Ulm School of Design in 1955. The stool was developed as a low cost, mass-produced chair for the students at the school, and is characterised by its extreme economy of form and material combined with clever functionality. The square, three-sided stool features a round cross bar, which is used to carry it, and also braces the two sides so that it can also be used sideways as a small table. The sturdy, lightweight stool became an instant design classic because of its flexibility, and went on to inspire generations of design students in Ulm.
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