Hi
I am interested why the 606 Shelving Unit is still desirable almost 50 years after initial release. If you are or ever have been the proud owner, please answer the below questions.
1. When and how did you first hear about or were made aware of this product?
2. What were your first impressions of the product?
3. When did you first acquire the product?
4. Did you purchase, inherit or receive the product?
5. If bought was the product brand new or second hand?
6. Do you regard the product as a ?classic?? Why?
7. What was it about the product that made you purchase it?
Please elaborate??.
8. What is your favourite aspect of the product? (e.g. aesthetics, function, cost etc.) Please elaborate??..
9. How does this product fit in with the rest of your furnishings? (in terms of aesthetics, design era, colour, material etc.)
10. Do you experience more from the product than just function? (e.g. empathy or meaning) Please explain why?
11. Why do you feel the design of the product has lasted through so many aesthetic trends?
12. Please try to sum up the aspects of the design which have caused the product to continue to be desirable to this day.
(student research)
Many thanks
Go on, I'll bite
1. In 1990, when I was charged with selling it at a London furniture store.
2. I thought "what's the big deal here"? I thought, naively, that if you were going to spend that amount of money on a shelving system it should be as flashy and demonstrative as the other items in the store at that time (i.e. post-modern whimsies). I soon realised the error of my ways (see below).
3. I first acquired some in about 1993.
4. Purchased four shelves for the princely sum of £5 total.
5. Second hand (ex-display from the shop). I then had to buy two pieces of e-profile track to mount the shelves. I purchsed these new. I've then continued to buy new pieces over the years.
6. Yes, it's been manufactured for close to 50 years now, it's been in continuous production, and it's virtually unchanged from its initial specifications.
7. In the three years that elapsed between my initial encounter with Vitsoe and my first purchase, I came to appreciate clarity, modesty and self-effacement, rather than the vulgarity and showiness that I had previously thought characterised "design". I also came to appreciate the idea of a "kit of parts" that could be added to indefinitely, rather than a closed system that would have to be discarded when obsolete. I saw, too, that it was better (financially, environmentally) to spend a bit more and keep what you had bought, rather than spending less initially but throwing it away soon afterwards.
8. Its versatility (both functional and aesthetic) and its timelessness.
9. Perfectly. It's so modest you could use it in any environment, and its continued production over 50 years and countless changes in interior fashions show this to be the case.
10. Yes. I feel it embodies (many of) my core values -honesty, modesty, function. (God, that sounds pretentious. But it's true.)
11. Because of Rams' indifference to fashion. It's never been fashionable, therefore it's never gone out of fashion (compare with the countless furniture products that are discontinued after three or four years). Also, and not unimportantly, it's a fantastic design that works well.
12. For me, it's the promise of service and longevity. By repeatedly and incrementally adding new parts to my 606 system, I've formed a relationship with the product and the company that I envisage will last my lifetime and beyond.
.
I can't answer any of your questions I'm afraid but am making my own shelving system similar in design from off the shelf track, brackets and boards. Its very affordable and should look quite good.
Has anyone ever heard of the Vitsoe shelves been used in a kitchen fitout? If not I'd like to know what people think of the idea and of any advantages or disadvantages you can think of.
Vitsoe in Kitchens
Hi Heath,
When I visited the Vitsoe UK HQ in the early 90s (in London's then-newly refurbished Shad Thames), the showroom doubled as the MD's apartment. It was kept very tidy, naturally, so that prospective buyers of the system could appreciate the shelving and other Vitsoe fixtures in use around the space. 606 shelving was used in the kitchen, you may not be surprised to learn. There were cabinets and shelves attached to the wall at head height, holding plates, glasses, cups and foodstuffs, and they looked great. I can't speak for how well they performed, but I guess if they're good enough for the MD of the company...
Incidentally, this was back when the company also sold a wide range of pieces, including tables, chairs and other wall systems. Now it's pared its offerings back to the 606 shelving system and the 620 chair/sofa system.
.
Thanks! I can't hep thinking that by using 12mm Corian tops on the cabinets and a slide in fixture for splashbacks it oould do a great job, more work would need to be done to make it viable but I wish something like that were availble cheaply rather then the overpriced rubbish most people end up with.
More images
You can see more of that house's interior below. It contains a ton of Vitsoe product, including many discontinued pieces (the round table, for example, and the bathroom wall panel system).
http://www.themodernhouse.net/tmh/sales/348/accomodation/0/0/4
Bathroom panels
@Pete1979, no it's not part of the 606 system. It's an entirely different one by Vitsoe, designed by Rams. It was discontinued by Vitsoe in the 90s. I can't remember what "number" it went under.
You *can* see a re-edited version of the product, though, at the site below. SDR+ is a peculiar company. It remakes a lot of Dieter Rams' Vitsoe designs (including the 606 system, the 620 chairs, and many other products that Vitsoe themselves have dropped), and seems to have some sort of permission from Rams to do so, even though they're in competition with Vitsoe...
(Just to confuse matters further, De Padova in Italy also manufactures 606 shelving, though the Italian and German versions are reportedly inferior to the British one, so much so that Alberto Alessi went to London to purchase his shelving from Vitsoe rather than go with De Padova's version.)
http://www.sdr-plus.com/33.0.html?&L=1
Hi Andrew
thanks for the i...
Hi Andrew
thanks for the info i often search for sdr on ebayde when i'm looking for 606 components although I was unsure of the compatibility between the two manufacturers and also the colour variation, I did read on one listing that sdr changed the shade of white in around 2000, I think i'm right in saying that Vitsoe did this also?
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