Part of a series designed during Kramer's time in America in the early 1940s, the ALDEN captivates with the balance between the 30 mm thick tabletop and the connecting V-shaped legs.
Ferdinand Kramer was one of the first to study at the Bauhaus, but after just a few months, he returned deeply disappointed to Theodor Fischer at the Technical University in Munich, as there were still no regular architectural courses available at the Bauhaus.
Walter Gropius was distraught by the departure of this critical student: “...I am full of regret to hear that you have decided to leave Weimar with your friend due to resentment felt towards the Bauhaus,” he affirmed in his three-and-a-half page handwritten letter dated
15 October 1919, and refers to “a whole host of mis- understandings and incorrect assumptions” which lead to the trouble caused.
Ferdinand Kramer felt a deep, life-long connection to the Bauhaus people, to the young, internationally artistic avant-garde. He had also experienced the terror of the war first-hand. Now, it was time to plan, draft and establish for the people of a new democratic society, to critically analyse the existing features in all areas of life and to find new solutions for functions, materials and forms which correspond to the requirements and the attitude towards life of the time.
Author: Lore Kramer - taken from the booklet 'Lore About Ferdinand Kramer'. All images copyright of the Kramer Archive.
