T
he furniture is not the sole aspect to be from the 50s and the 60s, as the spirit too, in the style of the American Way of Life that contaminated the old continent after the Second World War, pervades the mood at Bliss, a mid-century modern furniture store – modern antiques – in Zurich Werd, a district near the old town centre of the most important Swiss city.
“We are certain that the people whose home has excellent quality furniture with a story to tell are happy as a result” states Robert Lenz, the founding member of Bliss. This belief is based upon personal experience: Robert’s home is an authentic mid-century modern museum and the store’s name is unequivocal, Bliss is a synonym for beatitude.
A professional photographer, throughout the years Robert has become an enthusiastic restorer of vintage furniture, so much so that he has opened an additional store, a veritable restoration workshop in which people bring their battered pieces to be evaluated and put back together again.
But, how did Bliss begin? Let’s go back to when Robert was a young photographer with a passion for the places and the objects that had a story to tell. At the time, his parents let him renovate their mountain lodge, then seldom occupied, so it could be rented out to seasonal tourists…
His parents’ lodge, built in ’59 and subdivided in three tiny apartments, had all the typical problems of the buildings of the period, nonetheless it had the bewitching charm of the post war years. With a group of friends, Robert started work and instinctively began restoring everything that could be salvaged, from the interior finishes to the furniture. If a piece was beyond repair, he would look for a replacement from the same period, from the 50s to the 60s, a time when he wasn’t born yet, although it would change his life forever.
Robert in fact, suffered the same inevitable fate of anyone who begins to collect rare pieces. One piece leads to another and eventually, the three apartments were packed. One of his friends had to intervene and force him to choose between two alternatives: to stop or to open a store that sold vintage furniture. And so, Bliss was born, Robert’s beatitude had found its way.
Bliss is an extraordinary journey back in time, to a period in which design was sought-after and extremely refined, the lines were elegant and sinuous, the pieces were incredibly sexy. We are a step away from mass production and the craftsman’s touch comes across in every detail. A lesson and an inspiration too, absolutely not to be missed.

Store Infos
Bliss modern antiques GmbH
Headquaters and warehouse U2
Ankerstrasse 3,
Zurich, Switzerland
bliss-shop.ch
Opening times:
Wed - Fri 12.00 - 19.00
Sat 11.00 – 17.00
Bliss Showroom/ Atelier
Toblerplatz 5, Zurich, Switzerland
Open by appointment only
Photos:
Courtesy Bliss