The entryway is an area of the home that is often neglected today by architects and designers, and even by the residents themselves. But, as was the case with the likewise longforgotten bathroom, which is now experiencing a renaissance, this underestimated transitional zone harbours plenty of design potential. This is the mission of a company whose name was taken from a forested region that lies between Stuttgart and Tübingen. Schönbuch, originally a woodworking operation, outsourced its production in the 1980s and has for almost half a century specialized in intelligently designed entry hall furnishings. Early on, the corporate strategy already involved continuous working relationships with external designers like Thomas Althaus, Ulf Moritz, Andreas Weber and Jürgen Lange, who with his model Trio delivered a best-seller that evidently has no aesthetic expiration date. In this typical niche field, high demands are exacted not only by what is usually a narrow space, but also by the non-standardized dimensions, which often make it impossible to take advantage of what is on offer at furniture stores. After a change in ownership, the company began at the end of 2004 to consistently build on its creative USP in this fringe area. Part of this push was a model campaign with designs by young, usually German designers. Among the new
products for the contemporary entry way is Up and Down, a meandering cross between shelf and classic coat rack by Munich designer Carmen Stallbaumer. Another nice piece to come home to, but of an entirely different sort, is the hanging console Hesperide by Carsten Gollnick of Berlin, a horizontal shadowbox in wood and leather. The Jehs + Laub studio from Hanover contributed two designs to the rejuvenated assortment, Stripes and Match, both strictly right-angled box systems that are simple yet surprisingly variable.