Alfons Bach (1904 – 1999), German Industrial Designer

This article forms part of the Decorative and Applied Arts Encyclopedia, a master reference hub providing a structured overview of design history, materials, movements, and practitioners.

Alfons Bach Yellow Tubular Steel Sofa: A Modernist Icon
Alfons Bach’s tubular steel yellow sofa combines modernist aesthetics with comfort, showcasing vibrant yellow cushions and a sleek steel frame.

Alfons Bach (1904–1999) was a watercolour painter and industrial designer from Germany. He is noted for his architectural design projects and tubular steel furnishings, called “period icons.”

Early Life

Alfons Bach was born in the German city of Magdeburg. He was born and raised in Munich. In Berlin, he went to school. In 1926, he relocated to New York. He had studied film and design before his relocation.

Biography

In New York City, Bach planned the remodelling of Sach’s and the Seneca Textile Building. His work was shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in early contemporary industrial art shows. In Stamford, Connecticut, he created his own home in 1938. He oversaw the construction of the Ridgeway Center, one of the country’s earliest shopping malls. In the 1930s, Bach designed tubular steel furniture for the Lloyd Manufacturing Company. Until 1947, they continued to produce his works. These tubular objects constitute a link between Bauhaus and contemporary design.

In 1959, he relocated to Florida. He designed the Palm Trail Plaza and the Palm Trail Yacht Club in Delray Beach. In 1969, he was the curator of the United States display at the International Industrial Design Exhibition. He created designs for GE, Keystone Silver, Pacific Mills, and Bigelow-Samford. He was the American Designers Institute’s president.

Modernist Tubular Steel Table and Chair by Alfons Bach
Alfons Bach’s tubular steel tables showcase the elegance of Bauhaus-inspired modernism, blending polished steel frames with minimalist wooden surfaces for timeless functionality.

Legacy

The Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, and Yale University Art Gallery all have his work in their collections. Bach and his wife, Anita, possessed a set of 17th-century sliding-door panels from a Zen monastery in Kyoto, Japan, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection.

Sources

Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing. https://amzn.to/3ElmSlL

Wikipedia contributors. (2021, July 30). Alfons Bach. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 01:04, November 4, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alfons_Bach&oldid=1036262031

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