Wilhelm Wagenfeld in „Collection in Motion"
The presentation places Wilhelm Wagenfeld’s oeuvre at the centre of one of the fifteen thematically curated cabinet exhibitions, which permanently animate the museum’s first floor. A pioneer of functional industrial design, Wilhelm Wagenfeld (1900–1990) shaped twentieth-century everyday life like few others. During his time at the Bauhaus in Weimar, he designed the famous table lamp, which remains an icon of modern design to this day. Later, in collaboration with the Jena Glassworks, he developed durable, heat-resistant household products – elegant in form, efficient in use, and intended for a broad public.
Marking his 125th birthday, this important position in design history is being newly celebrated. The exhibition is accompanied by a significant acquisition that will permanently enrich the design collection of the Kunstmuseen Krefeld. Wagenfeld’s objects – rational in expression, human in attitude – exemplify a design ethos in which form is always linked to social responsibility.
With this contribution, “Collection in Motion” not only pays homage to Wagenfeld’s work but also offers a contemporary approach to questions of design culture: What makes good design? How does an object come into being that endures across generations? And what role do museums play in preserving and retelling everyday culture in all its facets?
