interiors founded 4 september 1959 headquarters london uk website www.vitsoe.com vits is a british furniture company that manufactures and retails furniture designed by dieter rams . vits s furniture is known as a german design classic . contents 1 company history 2 ethos 3 product categories 3.1 606 universal shelving system 3.2 620 chair programme 3.3 621 side table 3.4 not currently in production 4 references 5 external links company history edit furniture salesman niels wiese vits 1913 1995 was introduced to dieter rams by fellow designer otto zapf . in 1959 they founded a company called vits zapf in frankfurt to manufacture rams s furniture designs . although rams was working for braun at the time erwin and artur braun decided to allow him to work on side projects . in 1969 the company was renamed vits when otto zapf left the company . mark adams became managing director of vits in 1993 . mark adams had been importing and distributing vits furniture in britain starting from 1985 after having had a short career as a shop boy in an interior shop in london s west end . in march 1993 mark adams was called to help saving vits from being closed down . 1 since 1995 the company and all manufacturing have been based in england . the german company was closed before opening in britain which created the opportunity to re engineer every component of the 606 universal shelving system in discussions with new suppliers . in 1997 a shop was opened in new york . later in 2004 a shop was opened in london and in 2013 a shop was opened in munich . 2 3 in january 2013 vits became the exclusive worldwide licensee of dieter rams s complete collection of original furniture designs . ethos edit vits zapf and rams set out with a clear vision about their offering . as mark adams cited in 2012 1 they wanted their furniture to last longer . they wanted to avoid built in obsolescence . they would not pander to fashion . their furniture would be discrete and it would be adaptable . so that you as the customer could start with less add to it rearrange it repair it take it with you when you move and most importantly reuse it . in order to follow its vision vits is focusing on a close relationship with its customers using the internet to sell interactively internationally . in addition vits is continually improving their products and processes . according to mark adams about 50 % to 60 % of vits s orders are coming from existing customers . 1 product categories edit 606 universal shelving system edit vits s main product the 606 universal shelving system was designed by dieter rams in 1960 . it is a modular system that can be adjusted and extended to individual needs . it is part of the collection of the museum of modern art in new york city . over time dieter rams has made various improvements and additions to the system . the system is based on vertical posts having shelves cabinets panels and desks hanging onto it . the system can be wall mounted semi wall mounted which has the system carry its own weight and compressed between the floor and ceiling . if used in a compressed way shelves can be added on both sides . the system features two distinct segment widths of 65.5 cm and 90 cm and height increments of 7 cm . due to the way of mounting shelves can be mounted either way up and even be mounted on the side to feature as a panel for magnets . similarly the small desk shelf can be hung either way depending on the preferred desk setup . the system also features accessories like drawer dividers and cable conduits . the system is available in off white black and silver and can additionally feature beech tops . 4 620 chair programme edit designed in 1962 by dieter rams the 620 is a modular chair which can be converted from a low back to a high back chair by the owner . the legs of the 620 can be removed and replaced with casters a combination of legs and casters or a swivel base . the arms of the chair are removable and if desired additional chairs can be connected to form a sofa of any desired length . all of the chair s upholstery is removable and replaceable . the 620 won the rosenthal studio prize in 1966 and a gold medal at the international furniture exhibition in vienna in 1969 . the chair has been a part of the victoria and albert museum s permanent collection since 1970 . in may 2013 the re release of the 620 chair programme was announced . even though the new chairs are compatible with the old both in design and in measurements the chair is built with updated materials . notably the outer shell is still produced by the tools from 1975 . 5 6 621 side table edit like the 620 chair programme the 621 side table was designed in 1962 by dieter rams . the side tables come in two different sizes in both black and white . the tables are made of molded plastic with a painted finish . the original production stopped in the 1980s . in april 2014 the tables were re released . a notable addition by dieter rams were the adjustable feet which he had conceived in the 1960s but were not implemented . the new tables are hand painted in britain . 7 8 not currently in production edit over the years vits has produced various other tables and chairs which are no longer in production . rams designed the 601 easy chair and 602 easy chair featuring two legs and the four legged 622 chair . 9 rams designed the 601 side table in 1960 and a desk doubling as a dining table known as the rz 57 desk or 710 corpus which was released correspondingly in 1957 and 1971 covering both rectangular and half round tables . 10 11 in 1961 rams designed a hall stand system based on steel pegboard panels featuring various fixtures for coats and umbrellas . 12 references edit a b c adams mark . recycling is a defeat the value of eternity . youtube . typographische gesellschaft m nchen typographische gesellschaft m nchen tgm . retrieved 6 october 2014 . vits s new munich shop . vits . vitsoe . 22 march 2013 . retrieved 6 october 2014 . lovell sophie 21 march 2013 . vitsoe opens a new outpost in munich . wallpaper . retrieved 6 october 2014 . 606 universal shelving system . vits . retrieved 6 october 2014 . vits new licence new chair production . vits newsletter . vits . 9 may 2013 . retrieved 6 october 2014 . 620 chair programme . vits . retrieved 6 october 2014 . 621 side table . vits newsletter . vits . 10 april 2014 . retrieved 6 october 2014 . 621 side table . vits . retrieved 6 october 2014 . vits furniture seating . das programm . retrieved 6 october 2014 . vits furniture tables . das programm . retrieved 6 october 2014 . 2 x 1 2 round table dieter rams tischprogramm 570 vitsoe . designaddict . retrieved 6 october 2014 . vits furniture lighting other . das programm . retrieved 6 october 2014 . external links edit vits official site mark adams interview vits s managing director discusses vits s ethos at vimeo mark adams interview during the six cities design festival held at the rsa in november 2007 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title vits & oldid 743569221 categories companies established in 1959furniture manufacturers navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages deutsch edit links this page was last modified on 10 october 2016 at 06 42 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view