Stool, G59/11

When Eternit AG decided to expand its product range, Florian F. Adler (1921–1999) head of the advertising department, called on the Kunstgewerbeschule Zürich for help. The only teacher there to take an interest in the company’s new asbestos cement material was Willy Guhl (1915–2004), head of the interior design class. In collaboration with Eternit, his students developed new planters that were presented to the public for the first time in 1952 in the foyer of the Kunstgewerbemuseum (today the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich). In 1959, Guhl’s students won the top prize in the competition held for the G59 garden show. Among the award-winning designs was the stool by Ludwig Walser (1936–2016). The Museum für Gestaltung is now producing the stool in cooperation with Eternit AG, this time of asbestos-free fiber cement, to mark the reopening of the main museum building in 2018.