Gispen was founded in 1916 by Willem Hendrik Gispen, also known and abbreviated as WH Gispen. The best man lived from 1890 to 1981. He started working as a French teacher in England. He then studied Architecture at the Academy of Visual Arts and Technical Sciences. He always carried his drawing book with him; his hand could quickly sketch what he had in mind. After his studies, WH Gispen became a designer at a Rotterdam factory for ornamental ironwork (an art forge). Enterprising as he was, he took over the factory on the Voorhaven in Rotterdam in 1916, and renamed it Kunstsmederij WH Gispen & Co.
Gispen its first products in 1926: lamps. From his student days he had many architects and designers in his circle of friends, with whom he discussed his designs. Gispen and his friends wanted to bring light and transparency to a time when this was not entirely self-evident.
A true collection of lamps was created: called GISO - a combination of Gispen and his first wife Anna Gisolf. Whenever WH Gispen added a lamp to the collection, he did so with the basic elements of the previously designed lamps in mind. In this way he could easily expand the collection, with as few new parts or production processes as possible. This Gispen far ahead of its time; even then he was working on what we now call 'circular design'. Thanks to the GISO lamp collection, Gispen became a direct competitor of Philips, which was already a major player on the market at that time.
Whether it concerns the GISO lighting or Gispen's 'Living Well' period; each design was an innovation in itself at the time. This continued in products for office furnishings, and later the introduction of complete office concepts.
The Gispen brand has put an extensive collection of furniture on the market, for education, healthcare, the government, offices and ordinary citizens. You can also opt for the Gispen brand for furnishing your living room or home workplace, for example. Whoppah offers these products such as chairs, tables, benches, cupboards and lamps or other decoration for a nice price.
Gipsen has created various furniture lines such as the Gispen 412 armchair, which of all classics is by far the most famous design by Willem Hendrik Gispen . Or the Dutch Originals Gispen AA armchair is a typical Gispen chair. Are you looking for a dining room chair without armrests? Then the Gispen 101 and Gispen 116 models might be something for you. Would you prefer a dining room chair with armrest? Then you can look for example for the Gispen 201, Gispen 352 and Gispen 413 RH models.
Gispen not only stands for circularity, sustainability and efficiency. The brand also offers luxury. Decorating the living room with exclusive furniture and accessories for the interior is possible with Gispen. Whoppah has an assortment full of Gispen where you get the advantage that you also get many benefits by shopping at Whoppah. At Whoppah it is up to 70% cheaper than a new brand or product!