Wim Rietveld 663 bookcase Gispen Culemborg 1954

Wim Rietveld

Netherlands 1924 – 1985
Industrial designer

Stunning and original 663 bookcase designed by Wim Rietveld and manufactured by Gispen Culemborg in The Netherlands in 1954. Modular wall rack made of gray painted sheet steel. The customer was able to put together a wall unit himself using a number of components (open beams, shelves, cover panels and flaps). The standard module consisted of two beams, five shelves and a cross brace, which together formed a simple wall rack. This base could be expanded by placing various basic modules next to each other.

In addition, instead of shelves, cabinets with a forward-hinged flap could also be installed. These flaps, equipped with a round opening as a handle, were available in various striking colors, giving the cabinet a cheerful appearance. With this piece of furniture, Wim Rietveld won the Diploma d’Onore in 1954, the highest award at the 10th Triennial in Milan, where the piece of furniture was shown for the first time. This bookcase is a complete unit with 5 different coloured closed compartments consisting red, blue green and yellow. In original condition with normal signs of wear and usage for its age.

Wim Rietveld was the eldest son of minimalist architect and designer Gerrit Rietveld who was a prominent member of the De Stijl movement together with Piet Mondriaan, Theo van Doesburg, Vilmos Huszár, Bart van de Leck J.J.P Oud and more. The entire Rietveld family of course had Gerrits vision in their bloodline. Together with Friso Kramer, Wim Rietveld was the best Industrial designer from his era. Significant for his work is how he pared his design down to basic cubist elements and often used primary colors to emphasize the different planes. Most of his furniture was designed and manufactured to be mass produced, of course for the Dutch market which was relatively small at the time.

Literature; Collectie Gispen Barbara Laan Andre Koch 1996 Nai uitgevers, page 120-130