Tuesday, October 30, 2012

KLEIS : Sinn by Hannes Wettstein

The second feature of premium handle maker Kleis will feature the late Hannes Wettstein 1958-2008


A little bit about Hannes Wettstein, he's was one of the most innovative and influential designers in Switzerland. His background alone did not follow a standard pattern: born in 1958, Wettstein completed an apprenticeship as a structural engineering draughtsman and then trained himself as a designer and architect. He was fascinated by technological developments as well as art history and architecture; and somewhat alchemical and ingenious, his unique way of developing ideas never disappeared. In his own words, he questioned all norms, social, industrial, cultural and ritual, in order to discover something new. This absoluteness was not an attitude but a methodology. His willingness to always rethink everything determined by design - everyday actions, organization of rooms, the purpose of things - led him to create surprisingly simple solutions that outlasted time. Technology transfer from design-resistant fields, years of scientific work on an idea or a material and a fine sense of brand quality - Hannes Wettstein shaped a world in which he sought to comprehend the essence of things that surrounded him.

Pure, unspectacular, functional design was the stamp of his lights and furniture. Again and again he returned to sleek forms and classic modern lines. These suited his vision of the world and society in that, even before his time, he knew that only self-evident design can be endurable. Hannes Wettstein designed elegant and perfect objects for daily use that maintained their identity and remained timeless even in the changing flow of fashion.
Also in room design he created archetypes: complete and sensitive solutions for specific locations, interior fittings or set designs. The comprehensive way in which he helped designed the world lives on today in the company he founded in 1991, Studio Hannes Wettstein.

Studio Hannes Wettstein had worked with many companies from furniture and lighting manufacturers, to electronics or watches and even hotels & airports. They had work with popular brands like Bosch, Braun, Carl Zeiss, Sony, Tumi, Ventura Watches, Grand Hyatt hotel just to name a few.

" Unique form, unique function,
an indissoluble pairing;
Sinn manifests a modern synthesis
of beauty and efficiency,
the choice of a clear ideology, ergonomics,
and the reduction or promotion
of aesthetics to a dialectical category
of the useful and the rational:
the eye follows the hand,
the hand the body, the body the brain
and the brain the eye. "
 

Hannes Wettstein, 1991
Our first impression of "Sinn" looks like a pair of horns, and coincidentally reminding us of the devil. Very fierce design indeed.

Handle in die-cast brass.

Available in the following finishes:
- polished chrome
- satin chrome
- polished brass

Retail: 

Handle only - SGD 480.00

Complete with Lockset* - SGD 630.00
* Glutz swiss-made lock set for new door only. 

Delivery Lead-time 
45-60 days to upon confirmation with deposit






http://www.kleisdesign.it