Designing an icon – the STAPELLIEGE

In conversation with designer Rolf Heide

With his timeless, functional designs in the field of interior and corporate design, Rolf Heide (1932 – 2020) played a decisive role in shaping the German understanding of product design. His designs are characterised by clarity, simplicity and functionality; in other words, by qualities that are deeply rooted in the Bauhaus tradition. Building on an apprenticeship as a carpenter and subsequent studies in interior design, Rolf Heide developed the idea at an early stage of selling furniture that could be dismantled by mail order. The assembly of the furniture therefore had to be as simple as possible. 

The STACKING BED best embodies Rolf Heide’s design credo: simple materials are brought together in an impressively logical way and are given their typical character by a single ingenious idea: in this case by the sweeping curves of the side panels. After completing his carpentry apprenticeship and his studies in interior design at the then Muthesius Werkschule in Kiel, Rolf Heide became self-employed in 1959 and initially worked as a freelancer for magazines such as Brigitte, Schöner Wohnen or Architektur & Wohnen. Together with the Brigitte editorial team, he developed the idea of selling dismantlable designer furniture by mail order. This idea was perfectly realised with the STACKING BED introduced in 1966. With this, Rolf Heide precisely struck the chord of the time. Even then, living space was scarce and expensive. The STACKING BED, which can be simply and space-savingly stacked on top of each other and used as an additional guest bed if required, offered just the right answer. Mobile furniture that can be transformed in no time at all from a double bed into a non-slip sofa or into an additional guest bed. And back again. In short: A design that shows, today as it did then, how wonderfully one can live even in the smallest of spaces! 

The high functionality of the STACKING BED is complemented by its light, timeless, minimalist design. Most importantly: timeless design is not only fashionable or trendy, but is characterised above all by sustainability and durability. And that applies both to the construction and to the design, which should always remain recognisable and unique in different environments and over decades. The STACKING BED sets standards here. It is not only a prime example of timeless design in the sense of form follows function, but it also impresses with its high level of robustness. The basis for this is high-quality materials such as multi-layered plywood, which consists of several layers of wood glued together under high pressure and heat. The result is a permanently stable bed, which flexibly adapts to a wide variety of living situations and easily copes with several moves. 

Mr Heide, how did the idea for the Stacking Bed come about? 

Rolf Heide: The idea for the Stacking Bed resulted from the collaboration of the editorial team of the women's magazine Brigitte and myself as the interior designer responsible for the living area. Readers were supposed to find practical, well-designed and affordable furnishing proposals, while the right elements for this were often lacking in retail. So we decided to develop something ourselves, present it in the magazine and deliver it via mail order. The collection started with simple products such as lamps, eventually also with furniture. The special thing was: they were all dismantlable. 

In 1966 you designed the STACKING BED. What was the idea behind it and what, in your opinion, characterises the bed? 

Rolf Heide: The theme of flexibility played a major role, as did mobility, the desire not to be tied down. These were important aspects at the time. I wanted to design a simple, practical and affordable piece of furniture that corresponded to the aspirations of the generation of the time. And it had to have a form that you wouldn't forget, that made sense. That wasn’t cosmetic, but logical. The special feature is the stackability. The frame of the STACKING BED consists of specially cut plywood parts which are screwed together at a simple angle. Their shape allows the resulting frames to be easily and non-slip stacked on top of each other. The frame also accommodates the mattress and slatted frame, which also makes the STACKING BED a practical piece of furniture. 

How did your contact with Müller Möbelwerkstätten come about back then? 

Rolf Heide: The company Müller Möbelwerkstätten was producing high-quality furniture for the then newly established mail order business. So it was obvious that the STACKING BED should also be produced there from the very beginning. Today, this furniture is also offered in brick-and-mortar retail. 

What do you think when you see your STACKING BED today in specialist retailers, in home magazines, at trade fairs or in books, and it is referred to there as a “design classic”? 

Rolf Heide: The STACKING BED has fulfilled what both designer and editorial team envisioned at the time: good and timeless looks, combined with a solution for existing space problems. That’s why I’m happy every time I see it! The interview was conducted with Rolf Heide in 2016.

The interview was conducted with Rolf Heide in 2016.