Herbert Ohl for Rosenthal Studio, black ‘Swing’ chair, Germany, 1982

The Swing Chair was designed by Herbert and Jutta Ohl in 1982, for the German manufacturer Rosenthal Studio Linie Einrichtung. This exceptional design is characterized by clear lines and striking geometry. The seat is entirely made of black powder-coated spring steel rods, concentric and independent from one another, ensuring that the seat bends and adapts naturally to the user’s weight.
Herbert Ohl (1926-2012): from 1947 to 1949 he studied painting and graphics at the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe and received his diploma in architecture 1952 from the faculty in Karlsruhe.
He then worked for Egon Eiermann and until 1956 Ohl as a commissioned architect for the University Hospital in Saarbrücken, then as a freelance designer and architect in Ulm. From 1956 he also taught at the Ulm School of Design and from 1959 he was a member of the rectorate. In 1968, teaching in Ulm was discontinued and he moved to Milan, where he designed the complete renovation of the laRinascente department store together with the Italian architect Gino Valle.

After 1968, Ohl worked as an expert and as a designer, including various studies on automotive safety for Fiat. Among his clients in Italy were the furniture companies Fantoni, for whom he designed the modular "Serie 45°" office system (which was included in the permanent collection of the MoMa in New York), Brionvega, Arflex, for which he designed an armchair in 1974-1979 taut nets, and Matteograssi. In Germany in 1982 he revised the Arflex design for Wilkhahn, which was included in the program as the "O-Line". In 1982 he also designed the Swing cantilever chair for Rosenthal, which was later sold by Lübke.