Design objects

From creative design to photographic observation

Ronkholz's aesthetic interest in the formal organisation and structure of everyday life did not just begin in the medium of photography: Between 1961 and 1965, she studied at the Werkkunstschule Krefeld with a focus on interior design, furniture design and construction. Her final thesis was dedicated to the detailed interior design planning of a shop complex for glass, porcelain and ceramics - a design theme that would be reflected decades later in her photographic exploration of shop interiors, for example in the series on the Hubert Esser & Sohn wine shop in Cologne (1983). While she was initially actively involved in the design of such spaces, her focus later shifted to the role of photographic observer: She used her camera to capture the aesthetic structures of use, the systems of organisation and the often overlooked presence of everyday interiors - thus continuing her creative thinking in a different medium.

Art, design and interiors: a smooth transition 

After her training, Ronkholz initially worked at the Schröer furniture store in Krefeld and soon took over the management of the associated Galerie 123. The art programme presented there featured concrete, constructivist and design-related positions. Under Ronkholz's management, works by Camille Graeser - a painter, graphic artist and designer who is considered a pioneer of constructivist-concrete art in the post-war period - as well as Eugen Mahler, known for his folding collages and hinged objects, were probably exhibited. In 1967, under the direction of Denise René and Hans Mayer, the gallery developed into an independent nucleus of the international art avant-garde in Krefeld.

Ronkholz's proximity to the art scene of the time is also reflected in her own furniture designs, which she created as a freelance product designer for habit in the early 1970s. For example, in the modular folding furniture series unit 11: folding, convertible modules - austere in design, flexible in use - refer to a reduced, constructivist design language that has clear parallels to contemporary art. This functionally well thought-out aesthetic is not only continued in the mode of the object itself, but also characterises the structural view that Ronkholz later cultivates in her photographic work in order to make the orders, systems and forms of everyday spaces visible.

Living landscape and open spaces 

Another example of Ronkholz's reduced, clear design is the so-called living landscape, a flexibly configurable system of velour-covered podiums of different heights, which takes up the principles of open-plan living - a living culture that has been gaining strength since the 1960s, which dissolved strictly separated room functions, promoted flowing transitions between the areas of everyday life and focused on user-centred design. The individual modules could be combined individually to flexibly adapt rooms to personal needs - whether as a place to sleep, a retreat or a meeting place. Ronkholz's understanding of design as a dynamic principle is already evident here: her aim was to open up everyday spaces and understand their design as an active process. The accompanying product photographs of the living landscape, taken by Bernd Franck, present the modular furniture system in its versatility and at the same time as part of an extended aesthetic concept: living space, design objects and artistic works appear as a coherent unit. In several photographic settings of the living landscape, works by Josef Albers and Herbert Oehm also appear alongside Ronkholz's own designs - such as the Knick lamp or her collaborative work with light artist Adolf Luther.

The Luther lamp: combining art and everyday life 

The so-called Luther lamp, which Ronkholz developed together with the Krefeld artist Adolf Luther, is particularly exemplary of the interplay between art and design. Luther, known for his concave mirror objects, was increasingly concerned at the time with the question of how art could be integrated into architectural and everyday contexts. They were both interested in the interface between art and everyday life: The Luther lamp and a round table with concave mirror are concrete results of this collaboration. Luther's characteristic concave mirror was embedded in Ronkholz's clearly structured, formally reduced design. The result is an object that mediates between art and utility object - something that Ronkholz also emphasised herself. In a letter to Luther dated 26 October 1970, she wrote: "The distribution of this Luther lamp is intended for collectors, galleries and furniture stores." The few surviving product photos of the lamp illustrate Ronkholz's fascination with an almost graphic, line-orientated form in design - a clear, precise and functional aesthetic.

Formal aesthetic constants between design & photography 

Many of the photographic principles that Tata Ronkholz pursued in her later work - serial structures, formal clarity, the emphasis on surfaces and lines - have their roots in her design practice. These formal constants are reflected particularly clearly in her photographic series - for example in the images of industrial gates or the interiors of the Rhine harbour. There too, Ronkholz's focus is on the structural lines, surfaces and forms of industrial and everyday architecture. Her work as a product designer and her photographic oeuvre should therefore not be seen as separate chapters, but rather as two interwoven biographical strands whose connection still needs to be explored further.

This text is a modified and shortened version of the catalogue article: Reich, Julia: Tata Ronkholz - Grenzgänge zwischen Design, Kunst und Photographie, in: Tata Ronkholz. Gestaltete Welt. Eine Retrospektive, hrsg. v. Die Photographische Sammlung / SK Stiftung Kultur  in collaboration with the Stadtmuseum Düsseldorf and VAN HAM Estate, Schirmer/Mosel: Munich 2025, pp. 219-225.