office for furniture and product design, Wendlingen/ Baden-Württemberg, founded 1994

 

The duo of Barbara Funck and Rainer Weckenmann, who chose to name their company after the 90-degree angle, are interested in imbuing our everyday world with “more colour, warmth, joy and meaning”. This is done based on an analysis of current needs and traditional as well as changing behavioural habits, all the while taking advantage of the latest in technology. At the same time, they always keep sight of the “heart of a product” and heed the well-known designer maxim that “beauty often lies in simplicity”. The result they are striving for is a relaxed relationship between object and user. At least that’s how the theory goes. In practice, the two industrial designers who studied in Schwäbisch-Gmünd have already implemented these principles in conjunction with prominent manufacturers including Belux, Boffi, Ideal Standard, Osram and WMF. In their studio, an old railway station with a view of the Neckar River, such products have been created as the Basic salt shaker (for WMF), which, although clean-lined and modern, also has something archaic about it. The stable salt container is extra large and has a special shape that prevents the salt from clumping. And the matte upper section is dishwasher safe. For the same manufacturer the two also designed the award-winning Velvet silverware pattern and a few more products for better eating and drinking. Additional focuses are lamps and bathroom furnishings, such as the Ceramix 60s tap complete with temperature display (for Ideal Standard) and the washstand Folio (for Boffi), a sculpture for the bath whose asymmetrical, slanted basin looks expressionist but is in reality highly functional.