Wilkhahn: A tradition of the cutting edge

Design Management Journal, Spring 2002 by Wolf, Brigitte

KEYNOTE ARTICLE

der the personal leadership of Fritz Hahne, Wilkhahn has created a niche for itself and earned a global reputation for designing high-quality, classically V

modern furniture that is both elegant and functional. In a rich overview of this German firm, Brigitte Wolf explores the business objectives, the work ethic, the design principles, the social and environmental values and, of course, the products and architecture that are the hallmark of this remarkable company.

"I don't want to react to the marketI want to create the market," was one of Fritz Hahne's business principles. And that is what he did as the leader of Wilkhahn AG for 40-odd years and what he continues to do as the honorary president of the company's board of directors. It was his joy to initiate the pioneering projects that are Wilkhahn's trademark, and his task to define the research and development objectives that helped the company set the standard for high-design office furniture. Now 80 years old, Hahne looks back on a life spent in the vanguard of design, and smiles.

Company origins Founded in 1907 by Friedrich Hahne and Christian Wilkening, Wilkhahn started out as a small carpentry near Hanover, Germany. Like many others in that region, the company's main product was chairs made from the beech wood of the local forests. World War II, however, forced the company to close, and it was not reopened until the founders' sons, Fritz Hahne and Adolf Wilkening, took up the reins. Wilkening was an expert in construction and technology and a whiz at production, but Fritz Hahne truly shaped the company. His respect for aesthetics, as well as functionality, made it easy for him to differentiate his company from its competitors. He is known for a certain amount of self-doubt, which has driven him to look always for a better argument-to let the company's philosophy grow slowly. He is also fond of saying: "Small companies don't make long-term plans-- they recognize and feel the situation and act.' In other words, small companies grow through what they learn as they face challenges.

Hahne also believed in doing what he could to improve other peoples' lives and to create a positive experience for everyone-customers, partners, and staff. Fairness and honesty are the values by which he measures all his activities. When he left his position as Wilkhahn's CEO nearly 15 years ago, one might have expected him to hand the position over to his son Jochen. On the contrary, Jochen had to go outside Wilkhahn to find his own way, and it was not until he was offered a leading position at another company that his father "headhunted" him back into the fold. "Competence must go before family relations," says Hahne. Jochen became CEO of Wilkhahn in 2000.

The ethos of the company

With his knack for anticipative thinking, Fritz Hahne recognized early on that Wilkhahn could position itself successfully in the market if it used an innovative design strategy. "Profit is not all, he says, "but without profit, everything is nothing.' From the start, his principles were accepted and internalized by Wilkhahn's employees, and they have always informed company decisions-strategic or mundane.

Besides being a businessman, Hahne has always been a very social person. He took as his life principle Albert Schweitzer's motto: "I am life that wants to live in the middle of life that wants to live." It only made sense that he would

dedicate his business objectives to providing sustainable improvement and cultural value

to the public. Early in the 1950s, he went about establishing contacts with architects and designers known for their simple, dear design language, and he has always believed that design carries with it a certain amount of social responsibility. From his point of view, "form follows function" are still words to live by. Based on this philosophy, Wilkhahn has produced many objects that represent the technology and the spirit of the time, but which are-- because of their "pure" design-- timeless examples

of their era. Architecture as an expression of company culture Wilkhahn's first factory, built in 1910 of brick, still stands at the company's headquarters in Bad Muender. It was refurbished and now houses offices, as well as conference and training areas. In the late 1950s, the Gropius student Herbert Hirche designed a new building in the spirit of the Bauhaus and the Institute of Design, in Ulm, using the concrete technology and cubicle forms of the era.

By 1984, however, Fritz Hahne was telling us, "At Wilkhahn, no more bricks will be laid on top of one another unless it is to create a building that equally satisfies ecological and economic requirements, aesthetic and human requirements." By 1989, Wilkhahn had become famous for its landmark architecture. Architect Frei Otto, famous for his work on Munich's Olympic stadium, designed four light and airy production pavilions. The tent-like roofs are an excellent example of contemporary industrial architecture, but at the same time, they symbolize an employee-oriented environment. These buildings became a symbol for the company. The newest buildings used for production and as office space, as well as a new energy plant, were designed by Thomas Herzog, who is justly famous for his ecological designs, and they represent Wilkhahn's environmental principles. They were all constructed out of reusable materials and are designed for the optimal utilization of natural energy.