Hans Coray

Hans Coray was born on 9 June 1906 in Wald in the canton of Zurich and was originally from Sagogn in Graubünden. He was the son of Han Coray and Domenica Hössli.^[2]

Coray studied Romance languages at the University of Zurich and received a doctorate in 1929.^[2]

In 1931 he worked as a middle-school teacher in Aarau and Zuoz and produced his first furniture designs.^[2][4] Between 1932 and 1938 he pursued further study in subjects including graphology, astrology, religious philosophy and design, and began work in metal design.^[4]

For the Swiss National Exhibition of 1939 he designed the official Landi chair, a stackable chair made of perforated aluminium sheet.^[2] The idea of creating an official chair for the exhibition originated with architect Hans Fischli. Coray won a competition in 1938 to design the chair, around 1500 examples of which were produced for use across the exhibition grounds.^[5] The chair later entered series production and was manufactured in a modified form from 1962 onward,^[2] and is included in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.^[3]

Coray subsequently designed numerous other products, including furniture for the line für den Wohnbedarf, such as a garden chair and the table “Ponton”. He was among the first Swiss designers to create furniture models intended for industrial production, particularly seating furniture.^[2]

From 1945 Coray worked as a designer, artist and art dealer.^[4]