A rear house on Offenbachâs Geleitstrasse. Light falls through the barred windows on the raised ground floor, which are testament to the buildingâs past life as a leather warehouse. âThis was previously a storeroom for valuable snakeskins and fursâ, explains designer Sebastian Herkner when we meet. We sit between heavy-duty shelves almost bending from all the sample materials (lots of fabric, lots of glass). Some of these are slotted into grey boxes.
âJust around the corner, in Kaiserstrasse, there is a shop that makes these boxes to measureâ, says an enthusiastic Herkner, who is quick to praise good craftsmanship â even if itâs applied to something as supposedly banal as a cardboard box.
Herkner treasures good craftsmanship
In one corner of the room, a spiral staircase leads up to the first floor. âDown here we build models, while upstairs we have space for meetings, sketches and computer work,â says Herkner, explaining the layout of his two-story studio. Until August of last year, his studio was above his private apartment, but he has since relocated. He needed the extra space. Depending on the scope of the ongoing project, he employs up to four people. Almost directly opposite Herknerâs studio is an outpost to the Hochschule fĂŒr Gestaltung (HfG) in Offenbach am Main (Offenbachâs University of Art and Design), where the now 37-year-old studied Product Design between 2001 and 2007.
From Bad Mergentheim, his former home, Herkner brought a great appreciation for good craftsmanship. âI think growing up in the country is very different to the city,â he says. âWe would build treehouses in the forest and generally make a lot by hand. Many of the homes had workshops in which all sorts of things were manufactured or repaired.â
Glass base and brass plate leveraged the breakthrough
After graduating, Herkner initially worked as an assistant to his professor Peter Eckart. With the money he earned, he funded the development of his âBell Tableâ. The side table has been marketed by Munich manufacturer ClassiCon since 2012 and represents Herknerâs professional breakthrough. The bold combination of a bell-shaped glass base with a round brass or copper plate caused a sensation. There are virtually no design magazines that havenât at some point featured this striking piece of furniture. âOne of the biggest challenges was finding a factory that had the necessary expertise to blow the glass for the base,â Herkner recalls.
He shows us the hollow mold made of aged, lathed beechwood for the prototype. âCan you see how charred the wood is inside? Nevertheless, the hot glass remains transparent when it is blown at more than 1000°C,â he enthuses, explaining: âSince it sits in a basin of water overnight, a kind of protective film forms through the evaporation of the water between the glass and the mold.â
Pretty backrests and extravagant design
Herkner now works for many renowned design labels. In the last few years, for example, he designed vases for Rosenthal, luminaires for Pulpo and FĂŒrstenberg, and furniture for Dedon and Moroso. He spends about one third of the year travelling all over the world, jetting off to Colombia, Indonesia or the Philippines, to visit factories he works with. As far as Offenbach is concerned, he likes the uniqueness of Wilhelmsplatz, where he often goes for lunch, having friends around him and, not least, the proximity to the airport.
At furniture fairs, the designerâs name is on everyoneâs lips. Customers donât simply buy a table or a chair, they buy a âHerknerâ â and seek contact with him. âItâs a bit like a book fair, where writers present their latest novels and give interviews,â he explains. âWhat we do is design âdâauteurâ. My name is closely connected to the product.â When it comes to commissioned work, Herkner has to ensure he preserves the relevant companyâs philosophy without sacrificing his individual touch â quite a balancing act. âSometimes I even have to make it clear to a client that I cannot do what they are asking because it feels wrong to me.â
How to describe Herknerâs design idiom? âMy style is not particularly German, not overly purist but sensual ,â he answers. Indeed, compared with Bauhaus, often seen as the benchmark of German design, his style is somewhat extravagant. This applies particularly to his work for Italian avant-garde label Moroso (such as the bright red, comic-like pipe chairs). âMoroso is, to the world of design, not dissimilar to what Comme des Garçons is to fashionâ, says Herkner â and he knows what heâs talking about: During his studies, in his stage of orientation, he spent a year in London as an intern with fashion designer Stella McCartney.
My style is not particularly German, not overly purist, but sensual.
We then go on to talk about Herknerâs current projects. He recently collaborated with the label Thonet from north Hesse on a reinterpretation of the âFrankfurtâ chair, a classic kitchen chair dating from the 1920s. In contrast to the original, (âIncidentally, they make you sit nice and straightâ), the frame of Herknerâs version is not made of plywood but rather solid bentwood. Furthermore, the update appears finer and more elegant. âA chair like this needs an attractive backrest,â Herkner believes. âAfter all, you generally approach it from the back if itâs at a restaurant table.â
The item is part of a furniture family that the studio is currently working on. Three days after our visit, Herkner is due to present the new creation to interior designers in Amsterdam, where Thonet runs a showroom. The laptop with the presentation is already on hand. A further project focuses on wall tiles inspired by the tartan pattern of a kilt, a commission from an Italian firm. âWe are just experimenting with different tones and levels of gloss,â says Herkner, glancing at the workbench of his studio. And plans are also underway for a product we could use ourselves as we head back out into the June heat: sunglasses - a collaboration with a Berlin-based label.
