Delta-Design

Michael Conrad, Henner Werner, Detlef Unger and Dieter Raffler studied together at the Academy of Design in Ulm (HfG), and in 1967 they founded the “Delta-Design” design and development office in Stuttgart. Their work for the car industry resulted in numerous designs for the furniture industry. Delta-Design also designed electrical and household appliances, as well as toys – including products for the BIG-Spielwarenfabrik (bobby car) in Fürth. Michael Conrad taught at the Hochschule In Pforzheim, Henner Werner taught at the Fachhochschule in Kiel in the Design Faculty, and together with his students he developed a compact bus. Dieter Raffler taught at the Hochschule Anhalt in Dessau in the Design Faculty.
For Wilkhahn, Delta-Design developed the 2000 range in 1967 that became a desirable “executive chair range” from the very start due to extremely spacious seat shells. Technology drawn from the car industry had enabled the designers to do without strongly curved seat shells and thus to produce a design with slender, linear contours. The 23 office chair range (1977-1985) provided different types of chairs depending on the application required due to a three-section backrest. But this design was too much ahead of its time to sell well.