A creative all-rounder
Rolf Heide had a decisive influence on the German design scene over four decades. A true all-rounder, he worked not only in furniture design and interior architecture but also designed exhibition concepts, created fitted carpets and developed distinctive interiors in collaboration with magazine editorial teams. He helped companies not only with convincing trade fair appearances and advertising strategies, but also with establishing a corporate culture.
A wide range of work
Rolf Heide was born in 1932 in Kiel in Germany, the eldest son of the Heide family. After successfully completing an apprenticeship as a carpenter, he began studying interior architecture at the Muthesius Werkkunstschule in Kiel in 1953.
In 1960, Heide set up his own business as an interior architect and designer in Hamburg in Germany. His design work included a collection of flat-pack furniture that could be dismantled and shipped, as well as three detached houses not far from Hamburg. In the mid-1970s, several new hires made an urgent move to a larger studio in Hamburg-Eppendorf necessary. Successful collaborations followed with design-oriented companies such as Bulthaup and Gaggenau, including trade fair stands, showrooms, catalogues and photo shoots for advertising campaigns.
Alongside his own business, Heide began working as a freelancer for various magazine publishers in the late 1950s, which he continued for many decades. He conceived, illustrated and styled features for "Brigitte", "Schöner Wohnen", "Architektur und Wohnen" and many more.
Award-winning work
In 1994, his work was exhibited at venues including the Internationales Design Zentrum Berlin (IDZ) and the "Museum für Gewerbe" in Hamburg. In autumn 1996, "Designermonografie 6 – Rolf Heide" was published by Form Verlag. In 1999, Rolf Heide received the "Karl-Schneider-Preis" for applied art and design from the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. This was followed in 2000 by an exhibition of his drawings at the "Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe" in Hamburg.
In later years, Heide gradually withdrew from professional life. His timeless designs, however, have become true classics and remain very popular. The Stacking Bed in particular, which Heide designed back in 1967, is representative of his work and is still made by Müller Möbelwerkstätten today.
