Lady Desk by Helmut Magg for WK Möbel

• Modernist maple desk designed by Helmut Magg, produced by WK Wohnen (WK Möbel), c. 1955
• W 100 cm × D 58 cm × H 84 cm
• Clearance height 67 cm
• Shelf height 75 cm
• Drawer: D 47 cm × H 6 cm
• Normal signs of use and an old restoration on one leg (see photos)

Helmut Magg Lady Desk for WK Möbel

Helmut Magg trained as a cabinetmaker between 1941 and 1944, then graduated from the Munich Academy of Fine Arts in 1946 under Josef Hillerbrand. Early on, he developed an approach combining craftsmanship rigor with measured modernism. From 1952, he worked as an independent designer and created numerous models for WK Möbel and Deutsche Werkstätten, as well as fittings for private and public spaces.

With this lady’s desk, Magg expresses his taste for functional balance and structural precision. The wooden top rests on a base with a restrained, controlled line, in keeping with the formal clarity typical of German modernism. This model follows on from research linked to the “Die Wachsende Wohnung” (the evolving apartment) program, initiated by Paul Bruno, which influenced a generation of designers and architects, including Mies van der Rohe.

Later awarded the federal “Gute Form” prize for his 4500 cabinet, Helmut Magg also pursued a career teaching interior architecture, helping to spread a demanding vision of design based on clarity of form and quality of execution.

This Lady Desk, produced by WK Möbel, illustrates this approach: a structured, legible piece in which every element finds its place without showmanship. It fits naturally into a contemporary interior seeking coherence, restraint, and quality of line.

A similar model reproduced in the book by Bermpohl and Winkelmann.

A comparable desk produced by WK Möbel can also be seen
here.