"The invention of the door is just as important as the invention of tools, the wheel or fire”, contends architecture critic Wolfgang Pehnt in a book sponsored by the design firm FSB (“Drinnen und draußen” in: Zugänge – Ausgänge, ed. by Otl Aicher et al. 1987). The makers of stylish door-handles have succeeded in raising the object of their trade above the mundane. They have given an everyday device a cultural, indeed anthropological meaning. It all started, once again, with Otl Aicher, the Ulm-educated mentor of West German design culture as the man who laid down the conceptual guidelines for companies like Braun, Erco and Lufthansa. A workshop arranged by FSB’s manager Jürgen W. Braun in the designconscious 1980s marked the beginning of a creative process that would ultimately culminate in designer branding. What emerged was an exclusive collection of door fittings conceived as an integral part of a broader communications strategy, just as the far-sighted Aicher had envisioned. The creative process took five years. Every detail was examined and re-examined. From the logo to the corporate typeface, from the adverts to the invoices – nothing was left to chance. The new FSB profile included a highbrow book series dealing with meta-themes like the “language of hands”, various architectural issues or the “mythology of functionalism”. Sixteen volumes had already been published by the time the company celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2006. Aicher even laid down four “commandments” for the art of gripping. It might sound like there has been little scope for individual creativity. But far from
it: The Weserbergland-based company, one of the biggest in the industry with 1,300 employees, has built up its own universe of door-handles and fittings – a product range that is second to none and extends to backplates, door-knobs, door- stops, furniture items and window grips. The core of the collection contains designs by Johannes Potente, an engraver by trade. His early FSB door-handle models, including the enduring 1034, apply the soft canons of 1950s and 60s design aesthetics. Today, they are not only best-sellers but can also be found in the permanent collection at New York's Museum of Modern Art. In fact, the museum exhibits all the “authors” who have contributed to the famous German brand: from Mario Botta, Peter Eisenmann and Christoph Ingenhoven, to Erik Magnussen and Jasper Morrison, to Dieter Rams and Philippe Starck. With or without authoring, FSB continues to elaborate every detail of door fittings. The latest products introduced by the eastern Westphalian company are its series of glowing LED rosettes, flush-mounted rosettes and “barrier- free” handles.