Otto Kolb was a Swiss architect and designer. He was good friends with other artists such as James Joyce, Wassily Kandinsky, and Paul Klee, as well as with architects Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier. In the late 1940s, he emigrated to the USA, where he taught at the famous Institute of Design in Chicago and became friends with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. His houses are now American cultural monuments, and his designs were acquired by museums in New York and Paris.
After more than ten years, Kolb returned to his homeland. He became wealthy thanks to his invention of an iron spiral staircase. In Wermatswil, a small village in the Swiss mountains, he built his ‘cylinder house,’ a brilliant mix of Bauhaus principles and American influences.
Bat chair becomes love chair.
Meanwhile, one of Kolb’s designs had already begun its global conquest. He himself called it the bat chair, due to the wing-like armrests. In the American edition of Playboy, his “Love Chair” was described as an invitation to seduction.
“My grandfather simply had a talent for making beautiful things,” says his granddaughter Ginger Zalaba. “They were always important to our family. We grew up with his designs. I am a child of the Bauhaus.”
After her father’s death, Ginger took over the family business, which was primarily involved in building trade show stands. However, she fell in love with the chairs her grandfather designed and invested all her savings into her own collection. In 2015, she took it to the Salone del Mobile in Milan.
Design reunion
Interior
Outdoor
Atelier
Sleepstudio
Master Pro