Hans Gugelot

Hans Gugelot (1 April 1920 – 10 September 1965) was an Indonesian-born, German engineer and industrial designer known for his modernist consumer products.

Life and work

Johan Gugelot was born on 1 April 1920 in Makassar, Dutch East Indies, to Dutch parents.

He completed his early education in Laren and Hilversum, North Holland.

In 1934, the Gugelot family moved to Davos, Switzerland, for Hans's father's job as a physician.

Between 1940 and 1942 Gugelot studied architecture in Lausanne, and graduated as an architect from Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zurich in 1946.

Until 1948 he worked as an architect for a number of architects. In 1947, he married.

In 1948, Gugelot was hired by Max Bill, for whom he created his first furniture designs.

In 1950 he founded his own office and began work on the design of the "M125" shelving and storage system for Bofinger, a product for which he later became known.

Gugelot is closely identified with Hochschüle für Gestaltung (HfG) in Ulm, Germany. which he designed with Dieter Rams and Herbert Lindinger. Gugelot died of a heart attack in 1965.

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