Artifort
Artifort is a Dutch furniture manufacturer, founded in 1890 by Jules Wagemans in Maastricht as an upholstery workshop. His son Henricus Wagemans built the family business into a full furniture factory; by the late 1920s the company had a showroom in Amsterdam and an established reputation in the Dutch market. In 1928 the brand name Artifort was introduced — derived from the Latin "ars" (art, knowledge) and "fortis" (strong, powerful), with a simultaneous echo of the English word "comfort". The technical breakthrough of the 1930s came with a licence for the Epeda spring system: an interior springing woven from a single steel wire that provides greater comfort, higher durability and shorter production times compared to conventional springs. Until the 1950s Artifort manufactured classic wooden furniture; the first design shift came with the Pinguïn and Congo chairs, designed by Theo Ruth, who had joined as head of design in 1939.
The decisive turning point in company history was the appointment of interior architect and furniture designer Kho Liang Ie in 1958 as aesthetic consultant. Kho Liang Ie designed the new Artifort logo, built the company's international designer network and in 1959 recruited the French designer Pierre Paulin. Paulin developed a new production technique: tubular steel frames are upholstered with foam and covered with a seamless one-piece stretch fabric — a manufacturing principle that replaces the upholsterer with nails in the mouth with industrially crafted organic form. From this method emerged Paulin's iconic designs: Mushroom (F560, 1963 — today in the Permanent Collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York), Orange Slice, Tongue, Tulip, Ribbon (F582, 1965 — tubular steel, foam, elastic fabric cover), F577. British designer Geoffrey D. Harcourt also joined in this era and developed an extensive collection for the international contract market, driving Artifort's worldwide growth through the 1960s and 1970s. The 1970s and 1980s brought designs by Nel Verschuuren, Bruno Ninaber van Eyben, Gijs Bakker and Jeremy Harvey; the 1990s saw Artifort collaborate with Jasper Morrison, Wolfgang Mezger, René Holten and Jan Pesman. During this decade ownership changed three times: in 1990 to Steelcase Strafor, in 1994 to Samas, in 1998 to Lande Group (Schijndel, Netherlands) — under whose ownership the company has remained to this day.
Since 1998 Artifort has produced at three of its own locations: Schijndel (NL, headquarters and furniture manufacturing), Lanaken (Belgium, upholstery expertise) and Bursa (Turkey). Over 170 specialists — upholsterers, welders, cabinetmakers, seamstresses — work at the intersection of industrial precision and handcrafted finishing. In the 2000s and 2010s new collaborations were added: Patrick Norguet, Claesson Koivisto Rune, Luca Nichetto, Monica Förster, Ilse Crawford. Since 2003 the Iranian-American designer Khodi Feiz has worked for Artifort; in 2014 he was appointed the company's Art-Director to guide the brand's creative direction. Feiz designs: Extens (cabinet programme, aluminium corner elements + wood panels), Bras, Beso (chair, armchair, bar stool — with concealed zip cover system), Balans, Gap, Figura (modular sofa system — selectable arm heights, chaise longue options, electrification, two seat heights). Artifort furniture is represented in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art (New York) and the Centre Pompidou (Paris), as well as the Victoria & Albert Museum (London) and the Vitra Design Museum (Weil am Rhein).
For architects and contract planners, Artifort is the most complete Dutch address for organically shaped upholstered furniture of museum standing — with a 135-year company history that produced both the stretch-cover system and the modular sofa of the 21st century, and a production system that combines the craft art of upholstery with industrial manufacturing across two company-owned centres of competence in Schijndel and Lanaken.
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Artifort
Artifort is a Dutch furniture manufacturer, founded in 1890 by Jules Wagemans in Maastricht as an upholstery workshop. His son Henricus Wagemans built the family business into a full furniture factory; by the late 1920s the company had a showroom in Amsterdam and an established reputation in the Dutch market. In 1928 the brand name Artifort was introduced — derived from the Latin "ars" (art, knowledge) and "fortis" (strong, powerful), with a simultaneous echo of the English word "comfort". The technical breakthrough of the 1930s came with a licence for the Epeda spring system: an interior springing woven from a single steel wire that provides greater comfort, higher durability and shorter production times compared to conventional springs. Until the 1950s Artifort manufactured classic wooden furniture; the first design shift came with the Pinguïn and Congo chairs, designed by Theo Ruth, who had joined as head of design in 1939.
The decisive turning point in company history was the appointment of interior architect and furniture designer Kho Liang Ie in 1958 as aesthetic consultant. Kho Liang Ie designed the new Artifort logo, built the company's international designer network and in 1959 recruited the French designer Pierre Paulin. Paulin developed a new production technique: tubular steel frames are upholstered with foam and covered with a seamless one-piece stretch fabric — a manufacturing principle that replaces the upholsterer with nails in the mouth with industrially crafted organic form. From this method emerged Paulin's iconic designs: Mushroom (F560, 1963 — today in the Permanent Collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York), Orange Slice, Tongue, Tulip, Ribbon (F582, 1965 — tubular steel, foam, elastic fabric cover), F577. British designer Geoffrey D. Harcourt also joined in this era and developed an extensive collection for the international contract market, driving Artifort's worldwide growth through the 1960s and 1970s. The 1970s and 1980s brought designs by Nel Verschuuren, Bruno Ninaber van Eyben, Gijs Bakker and Jeremy Harvey; the 1990s saw Artifort collaborate with Jasper Morrison, Wolfgang Mezger, René Holten and Jan Pesman. During this decade ownership changed three times: in 1990 to Steelcase Strafor, in 1994 to Samas, in 1998 to Lande Group (Schijndel, Netherlands) — under whose ownership the company has remained to this day.
Since 1998 Artifort has produced at three of its own locations: Schijndel (NL, headquarters and furniture manufacturing), Lanaken (Belgium, upholstery expertise) and Bursa (Turkey). Over 170 specialists — upholsterers, welders, cabinetmakers, seamstresses — work at the intersection of industrial precision and handcrafted finishing. In the 2000s and 2010s new collaborations were added: Patrick Norguet, Claesson Koivisto Rune, Luca Nichetto, Monica Förster, Ilse Crawford. Since 2003 the Iranian-American designer Khodi Feiz has worked for Artifort; in 2014 he was appointed the company's Art-Director to guide the brand's creative direction. Feiz designs: Extens (cabinet programme, aluminium corner elements + wood panels), Bras, Beso (chair, armchair, bar stool — with concealed zip cover system), Balans, Gap, Figura (modular sofa system — selectable arm heights, chaise longue options, electrification, two seat heights). Artifort furniture is represented in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art (New York) and the Centre Pompidou (Paris), as well as the Victoria & Albert Museum (London) and the Vitra Design Museum (Weil am Rhein).
For architects and contract planners, Artifort is the most complete Dutch address for organically shaped upholstered furniture of museum standing — with a 135-year company history that produced both the stretch-cover system and the modular sofa of the 21st century, and a production system that combines the craft art of upholstery with industrial manufacturing across two company-owned centres of competence in Schijndel and Lanaken.