Manufacturers
CASSINA
Since 1973 Cassina produces furniture designed by Gerrit Rietveld. Cassina acquired the re-edition rights of Gerrit T. Rietveld furniture in 1972. An announcement appeared on the “Corriere della Sera” published on 16 March 1972: “Cassina S.p.A. announces it has purchased the exclusive reproduction rights for all furniture and objects by Rietveld from his heirs, resident in Amsterdam”.
RED AND BLUE CHAIR, 1918
The red and blue chair was designed by Rietveld in 1918 first uncoloured, then monochrome and for the first time in 1924 produced in the primary colours. An iconic design, a chair that stands freely in space, where shape wins over material and that is easily produced by machines.
Cassina produces the red and blue chair in the primary colours and in the colours black, green and white, the so-called Zeilmakers version.
ZIG ZAG CHAIR, 1934
For the design of the Zig Zag Chair Rietveld used a Bruynzeel closet shelf that cost 90 cents at the time. He described it as a spatial design: “The chair leaves the space intact, just a little partition in space”.
UTRECHT ARMCHAIR AND SOFAS, 1935-1956
The seat and backrest of the upholstered Utrecht Armchair form an angle that rest on the floor at the back. The front leg and armrest merge and are perpendicular to each other. Also produced as Utrecht XL and as Utrecht Sofas.
BEUGEL CHAIR, 1927
The Beugel Chair is no longer produced by Cassina.
ELLING BUFFET, 1919
Rietveld made the Elling Buffet in 1919 for his friend and colleague Piet Elling. The cabinet consists of a frame of sticks/rules, all of the same size. The doors are a composition of planes that are placed spatially against each other in the same three dimensions of the space as are the drawers.
GISPEN
Gerrit Rietveld designed the Mondial chair in cooperation with son Wim who worked for Gispen at that time. The chair was designed for the 1958 World Exhibition in Brussels.
The chair was re-issued by Rietveld by Rietveld in 2006 in cooperation with Gispen. Since 2013 Gispen has the exclusive reproduction rights for the Mondial chair.
MONDIAL, 1958
Gispen produces the Mondial in various colours. Among them are the aluminium and red variant.
MONDIAL WITH ARMRESTS
There is also a version of the Mondial with armrests.
RIETVELD ORIGINALS
Rietveld Originals was founded under the name of Rietveld by Rietveld in 2004 by his grandson Egbert Rietveld and his great-grandson Ries Seijler. The aim was bringing more furniture designs to the attention of the public. The collection consists of furniture produced by Rietveld Originals as an official licensee of the Rietveld Foundation of the heirs of Gerrit Rietveld.
Since the start of Rietveld by Rietveld more than 10 Rietveld designs have been reintroduced, the vast majority of the furniture is produced in the Netherlands.
BERLIN CHAIR, 1923
Originally Rietveld designed the asymmetrical Berlin Chair for the ‘Juryfreie Kunstschau’ in Berlin.
STELTMAN CHAIR, 1963
The Steltman Chair was Rietveld’s last furniture design. The chair was designed for the Steltman jeweller’s shop. The chair is asymmetrical from every angle, but as a whole it shows itself as a balanced unit.
PRESS ROOM CHAIR, 1958
The Press Room Chair was designed in 1958 by Gerrit Rietveld for the UNESCO building in Paris as a comfortable lounge chair for journalists at the reading table in the pressroom.
NEW AMSTERDAM, 1937
Gerrit Rietveld designed the New Amsterdam armchair in 1937, for the ‘New Amsterdam’ steamship. The chair was part of a complete interior design that Rietveld made for a first-class cabin.
ARMCHAIR FOR METZ & CO, 1942
The Armchair for Metz & Co is named after the Amsterdam department store Metz & Co. Gerrit Rietveld designed the chair in 1942.
CRATE FURNITURE, 1934
For the designs of the crate furniture Rietveld used the wood from the crates in which furniture was packed for transportation. This wood was cheap and in the days of the global depression there was a great need for affordable furniture.
Rietveld Originals launched several models:
TECTA
Tecta acquired the re-edition rights of two lamps designed by Rietveld.
L40 BUIZENLAMP, 1922
Rietveld designed this lamp for the consultation room of general practitioner A.M. Hartog in Maarssen. This first version had four tubes, hereafter the lamp was usually composed of three parts. An ultimate spatial object in which the three dimensions of the space are represented.
L25 TAFELLAMPJE, 1925
Originally this lamp was made with a black cap painted on the glass of the light bulb. In that time only a few prototypes were produced by Rietveld.
VITRA
The Rietveld Foundation granted Vitra the exclusive licence to manufacture two miniature chairs designed by Gerrit Rietveld, the red and blue chair and the zigzag chair.
RED AND BLUE CHAIR, MINIATURE
The Miniature Collection by Vitra Design Museum includes important pieces of the international history of the design. The construction materials and the colours of the miniatures exactly correspond to the original.
Among these miniatures is Rietveld’s famous Red and Blue Chair.
ZIGZAG CHAIR, MINIATURE
Vitra also produces a miniature version of the Zigzag Chair.