Ingo Maurer / Ingo Maurer GmbH

Ingo Maurer / Ingo Maurer GmbH (Munich, Design M founded 1966) – German graphic and lighting designer, internationally known as the “Poet of Light”

Company and origin

Ingo Maurer GmbH is a Munich-based design studio and manufacturing workshop for luminaires, lighting systems and light installations. It goes back to the company “Design M”, founded in Munich in 1966 by Ingo Maurer and later renamed “Ingo Maurer GmbH” (with the trade register entry “Design M – Ingo Maurer GmbH” in 1973). Its headquarters and main showroom have been at Kaiserstrasse 47 in Munich-Schwabing since 1970. In 2005 serial production was moved to a second facility on the outskirts of Munich, and the former production hall on Kaiserstrasse was converted into a large showroom – the only Ingo Maurer showroom in Europe.
Since the 1960s Ingo Maurer has understood itself as an author-driven manufacture: the majority of its luminaires are developed, produced and shipped worldwide by hand in-house in Munich. The company describes itself with the phrase “handmade in Munich for over 50 years” and today employs more than sixty people. Alongside the classic catalogue programme, Ingo Maurer GmbH specialises in public and private light installations – from fashion shows and museum exhibitions to metro stations, hotels and corporate headquarters.
Following the death of the founder Ingo Maurer on 21 October 2019 in Munich, the company is being continued by the existing team. The artistic and product development is essentially led by Axel Schmid, who has been part of the core team since 1998 and today heads Product and Project Design.

Formative designers

The signature of the house is inseparable from the person of the founder Ingo Maurer, but from the very beginning it has been enriched by a permanent in-house team and by selected collaborations with external designers. The official monograph “Designing with Light” (Prestel 2008) highlights the following people in particular:

Ingo Maurer (12 May 1932 Reichenau Island, Lake Constance – 21 October 2019 Munich):

son of a fisherman; trained as a typesetter in Konstanz and in Switzerland; studied graphic design in Munich from 1954 to 1958. In 1960 he emigrated to the United States, where he worked as a freelance designer in New York City and San Francisco. Returned to Europe in 1963. Founded “Design M” in Munich in 1966. His first lamp, “Bulb” (1966), was integrated into the design collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York shortly after its release. Internationally, Ingo Maurer is regarded as the “poet of light” and as one of the most important lighting designers of the second half of the twentieth century.

Jenny Lau (wife of Ingo Maurer since 1995 and long-time Managing Director):

ccording to the monograph “without doubt the most important person in the firm after Ingo himself”. An employee of the firm since 1969, at Ingo’s side for more than 25 years, his wife since 1995; for many years Managing Director of Ingo Maurer GmbH and therefore jointly responsible for the commercial and organisational development of the studio. Ingo Maurer himself referred to her as the firm’s “éminence grise” in reference to her work behind the scenes; the “we feeling” of the Kaiserstrasse described in the book is largely thanks to her role.

Bernhard Dessecker (born 1961 in Munich):

interior architect, freelance architect and designer. After studies in interior design he worked from 1983 to 1984 as an interior designer in New York; from 1984 as a freelance architect and designer. Beginning of his collaboration with Ingo Maurer in 1988; since then he has devised numerous designs for the Ingo Maurer Light Collection, and between 1994 and 1997 also created the “Luzon” light collection for Alteco GmbH. From 1997 he has additionally held teaching positions, workshops and lectures on lighting design; editor of the Prestel monograph “Ingo Maurer – Designing with Light” (2008).

Axel Schmid (Head of Product and Project Design, part of the team since 1998):

product designer, responsible for numerous serial luminaires of the brand, including “Koyoo” (LED table lamp with battery) and other more recent LED objects. Since the death of the founder, Schmid has been continuing Ingo Maurer’s formal handwriting together with the team.
Other core collaborators on the book are Frank Koschembar (born 1960 Reken, studied in Kassel and Amsterdam, designer and photographer, responsible for the design and layout of the monograph and long-time image-maker of the house) and Kirsten Wengmann (born 1963 Dortmund, art historian and cultural project manager, concept and editing of the monograph). Through occasional collaborations and special projects, an international list of leading design and architecture personalities is associated with the house – documented, among other things, by the “International Design Yearbook” edited by Ingo Maurer in 2000, with contributions by Philippe Starck, Ron Arad, Mario Bellini and Jasper Morrison. Together with Ron Arad, the collaborative lighting object “aR ingo” was created in 2008. The monograph also contains personal essays by Paola Antonelli (MoMA), Alessandro Mendini, Issey Miyake, Kim Hastreiter, Markus Allmann, Diane Hennebert, Chantal Hamaide, Thomas Edelmann, Christian Gärtner, Lisa Zeitz, Holger Schnitgerhans and Studio MORSA (Donato Savoie & Antonio Morello, New York).

History at a glance (1932 to present)

1932 – Birth of Ingo Maurer
On 12 May 1932 Ingo Maurer is born on the Island of Reichenau on Lake Constance. He grows up on the island as the son of a fisherman with four siblings.
1940s – Apprenticeship as a typesetter
Ingo Maurer trains as a typesetter in Konstanz and in Switzerland, laying the graphically and typographically informed, conceptual foundation of his later work.
1954–1958 – Studies in graphic design in Munich
Ingo Maurer studies graphic design (Gebrauchsgrafik) in Munich from 1954 to 1958 (authorised biographical fact from the monograph “Designing with Light”, 2008).
1960–1963 – United States and graphic design
In 1960 Ingo Maurer emigrates to the United States and works in New York City and San Francisco as a freelance designer.
1963 – Return to Europe
In 1963 Ingo Maurer returns from the United States to Europe.

1966 – Founding of “Design M” in Munich and the “Bulb” icon
In 1966 Ingo Maurer founds the company “Design M” in Munich to develop and manufacture his own luminaires. In the same year he creates the table lamp “Bulb” – an oversized, hand-blown crystal glass shell around a small chromed light bulb. “Bulb” breaks with the traditional division into base, stem and shade and becomes the signature object of the house; according to the authorised biography, the lamp was integrated into the design collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York “shortly thereafter”. The trade register entry “Design M – Ingo Maurer GmbH” follows in 1973.
1969 – Jenny Lau joins the firm
In 1969 Jenny Lau joins the firm and, over the following decades, becomes the central figure of trust and later Managing Director.
1970 – Move to Kaiserstrasse 47, Munich-Schwabing
The firm moves to its still-current headquarters at Kaiserstrasse 47 in Munich-Schwabing. From here the brand’s design, manufacturing, projects and distribution are coordinated; the chapter “Kaiserstrasse 47” (Jenny Lau) in the monograph describes the building as a “labyrinth” with a grown “we-feeling”.
1984 – Low-voltage cable system “YaYaHo”
Ingo Maurer presents the low-voltage halogen cable system “YaYaHo”, one of the first of its kind in the world. Freely adjustable halogen reflector luminaires hang between two horizontally tensioned metal wires. “YaYaHo” becomes the international breakthrough and forms the basis for numerous special installations, including at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, the Villa Medici in Rome and the Institut Français d'Architecture in Paris.
1986 – Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres
Ingo Maurer is appointed “Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres” by the French Minister of Culture. In the same year he designs a special lighting concept for the exhibition “Design à la Villa Medici” in Rome.
1988 – Beginning of the collaboration with Bernhard Dessecker
The interior architect and designer Bernhard Dessecker begins his still formative collaboration with Ingo Maurer and has since delivered numerous designs for the light collection; in parallel he participates in the exhibition “Design heute. Maßstäbe: Formgebung zwischen Industrie und Kunst-Stück” at the Deutsches Architekturmuseum in Frankfurt.
1989 – “Lucellino” and the Fondation Cartier exhibition
With “Lucellino”, Ingo Maurer designs a winged light bulb with hand-placed goose feathers – to this day one of the most recognisable images of the brand. In the same year, the Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain in Jouy-en-Josas near Paris organises the exhibition “Ingo Maurer: Lumière Hasard Réflexion”. For the first time, Maurer develops for an exhibition objects and installations not intended for serial production – the beginning of a consistently artistic, installation-based body of work alongside the catalogue programme.
1991 – “Münchner Räume”, Stadtmuseum Munich
Ingo Maurer participates in the exhibition “Münchner Räume” at the Munich City Museum.
1992 – “Ingo Maurer: Arbeiten mit Licht”, Museum Villa Stuck, Munich
The Museum Villa Stuck in Munich dedicates the solo exhibition “Ingo Maurer: Arbeiten mit Licht” to Ingo Maurer – according to the monograph the first of a long series of international museum exhibitions of his work.
1993 – “Licht licht”, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Solo exhibition “Licht licht” at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.
1994 – “Porca Miseria!” – the porcelain explosion; “Identità e differenze”, Triennale Milan
The chandelier “Porca Miseria!” – a suspended “explosion” of shattered porcelain and cutlery fragments – becomes the signature object of the 1990s and later joins the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Participation in the exhibition “Identità e differenze. I racconti dell'abitare” at the Milan Triennale as well as in “Wohnkultur” at the Munich City Museum. In parallel, between 1994 and 1997, Bernhard Dessecker develops the light collection “Luzon” for Alteco GmbH.
1995 – “Les Archives du Monde du Travail”, Roubaix
Lighting design for the Archives du Monde du Travail in Roubaix, France.
1996 – “Bellissima Brutta”; Vos Furniture Store, Groningen
In 1996 the first LED lighting object of the brand, “Bellissima Brutta”, is created; in the same year lighting design for the Vos Furniture Store in Groningen, The Netherlands.
1997 – “Zettel'z” – the user as co-author; “Magister Theodoricus” Prague
With the pendant lamp “Zettel'z” (including “Zettel'z 5”), Ingo Maurer literally hands the stage of the luminaire over to the user: printed and blank sheets of paper hang on thin stainless steel wires and can be individually written on and illustrated. “Zettel'z” becomes one of the world’s best-selling author-designed chandeliers by Ingo Maurer and is likewise part of the MoMA collection. In the same year, lighting design for the exhibition “Magister Theodoricus” in Prague.
1998 – “Projects 66”, MoMA New York (with Fernando and Humberto Campana); Westfriedhof Munich; “Designer of the Year 1997”
Solo exhibition “Projects 66” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York – jointly curated with the Brazilian brothers Fernando and Humberto Campana. Also in 1998 Ingo Maurer transforms the Westfriedhof metro station in Munich into an underground colour and light space with eleven internally coloured aluminium dome luminaires each around four metres high. The magazine “Architektur & Wohnen” selects Ingo Maurer as “Designer of the Year 1997”; additionally, five light sculptures on the Rue du Marché-aux-Herbes in front of the Palais Grand-Ducal in Luxembourg.
1999 – Design award of the City of Munich
Ingo Maurer receives the Design Prize of the City of Munich.
2000 – “International Design Yearbook”, Passage Hamburger Hof, SWB Energie Café; Lucky Strike Designer Award
Ingo Maurer is editor of the “International Design Yearbook 2000” (Laurence King Publishing, London) with contributions by Philippe Starck, Ron Arad, Mario Bellini and Jasper Morrison. Lighting design for the Passage Hamburger Hof in Hamburg and for the SWB Energie Café in Bremen. Award of the Lucky Strike Designer Award of the Raymond Loewy Foundation.
2001 – Barcelona: “Passió per la Llum” and “Primavera del Disseny”; “EL.E.Dee”; private house Hong Kong
Solo exhibition “Ingo Maurer: Passió per la Llum” at the Museum Santa Mònica in Barcelona; “Primavera del Disseny 2000” award of the City of Barcelona. Presentation of the LED table lamp “EL.E.Dee”. Several light objects for a private house in Hong Kong.
2002 – “ephemer visionär”, Frankfurt; Chanel “Rêves des Diamantes”; Knokke-Heist; Philadelphia Design Excellence Award
Solo exhibition “ephemer visionär Ingo Maurer: Licht” at the Museum für Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt am Main. Lighting design for the Chanel exhibition “Rêves des Diamantes” in New York and Paris and light objects for the cultural centre Knokke-Heist (Belgium). Award of the Collab's Design Excellence Award of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
2002–2007 – “Ingo Maurer – Light – Reaching for the Moon”, international travelling exhibition
The Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein realises the first major monographic travelling exhibition “Ingo Maurer – Light – Reaching for the Moon”, with further stations at La Grand-Hornu (Belgium), Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery and the Suntory Museum Osaka.
2003 – Georg Jensen Prize, Oribe Award; Hotel Urthaler, Alpe di Siusi
Awards of the Georg Jensen Prize 2002 (Copenhagen) and The Fourth Oribe Award of the Design Academy Division, Gifu, Japan. Lighting design for the Hotel Urthaler in South Tyrol / Alpe di Siusi (Seiser Alm).
2003–2005 – Kruisherenhotel Maastricht
For the Kruisherenhotel, housed in the former Crosier Monastery in Maastricht, Ingo Maurer designs the entrance area and a comprehensive lighting concept with specially designed objects.
2004 – “Brilliant”, V&A London; “Iluminar Design Da Luz 1920–2004”, São Paulo
Participation in “Brilliant” at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London as well as in “Iluminar Design Da Luz 1920–2004” at the Museu de Arte Brasileira da Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado in São Paulo.
2005 – Relocation of production; Royal Designer for Industry, RSA London
Relocation of serial production from the headquarters at Kaiserstrasse 47 to a second location on the outskirts of Munich; conversion of the former production hall into the European showroom. Award of the honorary title “Royal Designer for Industry” (Hon RDI) of the Royal Society of Arts, London.
2006 – Atomium Brussels; Dexia Bank; honorary doctorate RCA London; “Abitare il Tempo” Verona; “Le mouvement des images” Centre Pompidou
Lighting objects and installations inside the Atomium in Brussels; lighting design for the Dexia Bank in Esch-Belval (Luxembourg). Honorary doctorate of the Royal College of Art in London as well as the “Abitare il Tempo” prize in Verona. Participation in the exhibition “Le mouvement des images” at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.
2007 – “Provoking Magic: Lighting of Ingo Maurer”, Cooper-Hewitt, New York; 75th birthday
Major US retrospective “Provoking Magic: Lighting of Ingo Maurer” at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York. On the occasion of his 75th birthday, the team around Bernhard Dessecker conceives the extensive book project “Ingo Maurer – Designing with Light / Gestalten mit Licht” (Prestel Verlag, Munich/Berlin/London/New York, published in 2008, ISBN 978-3-7913-3829-3), with contributions by Paola Antonelli, Alessandro Mendini, Issey Miyake, Kim Hastreiter, Markus Allmann, Diane Hennebert, Chantal Hamaide, Thomas Edelmann, Lisa Zeitz and other authors.
2008 – “Ingo, Piero e l'Uovo”, La Spezia; collaboration with Ron Arad (“aR ingo”)
Solo exhibition “Ingo, Piero e l'Uovo” at the Fondazione Cassa Di Risparmio Della Spezia (Italy). In the same year, the collaborative lighting object “aR ingo” is created together with Ron Arad.
2008/2009 – “Münchner Freiheit”, Munich metro
For the Münchner Freiheit metro station, Ingo Maurer develops a light and colour concept with blue mirrored and steel surfaces and an opulent ceiling illumination; the redesigned station reopens in December 2009.
2010 – Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany
Ingo Maurer receives the Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany – the highest German state design distinction.
2011 – “Marienplatz” (with Allmann Sattler Wappner); Compasso d'Oro alla Carriera
Together with the architectural office Allmann Sattler Wappner, Ingo Maurer is commissioned to redesign the intermediate level and the lighting of the Marienplatz metro station in Munich. In the same year he receives the Italian Compasso d'Oro alla Carriera for lifetime achievement – one of the highest awards of international industrial design.
2019 – Death of Ingo Maurer
On 21 October 2019 Ingo Maurer dies at the age of 87 in a Munich hospital. Numerous international obituaries (including The New York Times, Dezeen, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Der Spiegel) honour him as the “poet of light”.
2019/2020 – Retrospective “Ingo Maurer intim. Design or What?”, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich
Die Neue Sammlung – The Design Museum in the Pinakothek der Moderne dedicates the extensive exhibition “Ingo Maurer intim. Design or What?” to Ingo Maurer.

Recurring characteristics include:

Concept and metaphor:

Material canon:

Formal repertoire:

Technological curiosity:

Author-driven manufacture: