Friso Kramer 'Couchette' Daybed for Auping, 1965

Item DetailsDesignerSeller InformationShipping ReturnsThe 1stDibs Promise

About the Item

Friso Kramer ‘Couchette’ daybed for Auping, 1965. Frame is original condition, mattress and cushions newly upholstered. Frame has visible wear, consistent with its age and use. Frame height is 10.5″, to side frame is 12.375″.Creator: Auping (Manufacturer),Friso Kramer (Designer)Dimensions: Height: 15.5 in (39.37 cm)Width: 29.25 in (74.3 cm)Depth: 76.25 in (193.68 cm)Style: Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)Materials and Techniques: Metal,Wood,EnameledPlace of Origin: NetherlandsPeriod: 1960-1969Date of Manufacture: 1965Condition: GoodReupholstered. Wear consistent with age and use. Minor losses. Minor fading. Mattress and cushions newly upholstered.Seller Location: Los Angeles, CAReference Number: Seller: S251 FKA1stDibs: LU922426644332Shop All Friso Kramer

Friso Kramer

Through both his bold furniture designs and his teaching and administrative positions within the architecture and design industries, the solution-oriented Friso Kramer helped elevate industrial design to a venerated place in the modernist canon.

While the mid-century years saw no shortage of function-minded modernists, Kramer may have been the most extreme of them. If form does not contribute to the function, it has no right to exist, the Dutch designer once said. Born in Amsterdam in 1922 to the pioneering architect Piet Kramer, Friso studied architecture, industrial design, electrical engineering and interior design. He cut his teeth in the studios of architect Jan Piet Kloos and interior designer Frans Paulussen, then, in 1948, went to work as a designer at the steel furniture manufacturer De Cirkel (part of the Ahrend group), where he would design some of his best-known work.

The 1953 Revolt chair, which is among his most celebrated seating and a darling of Dutch mid-century modernism, embodied Kramers function-first design; its skeletal, industrial form provides for maximum comfort and ergonomic support with minimal material. He joined forces with Wim Rietveld, son of celebrated Dutch modernist Gerrit Rietveld, for the 1958 Result chair, which married elements of the Revolt with forms from Rietvelds Pyramid series. Kramer found numerous ways to riff on and perfect his brand of minimalism: The 1960 Resort and Repose armchairs demonstrate how he slightly tweaked the skeletal frames for different postures and uses.

In 1963, Kramer left Ahrend to found Total Design Studio with Wim Crouwel, Benno Wissing and Paul and Dick Schwartz. The firm grouped graphic, industrial and spatial design under one roof with the shared belief in functionalism. Though Total Design Studio is still in business today, Kramer left the company to return to Ahrend in 1971, serving as art director until 1983. Following Kramers death in 2019, Ahrend teamed up with Danish design brand HAY to relaunch the Result and Revolt chairs.

Find vintage Friso Kramer chairs, sofas, tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.