‘A door handle is an essential part of the architecture.’

Ease and elegance: Italian architect Matteo Thun and his Spanish partner Antonio Rodriguez designed FSB 1285, a handle collection that is as simple as it is bold. In an interview they talk about why they like small-scale projects as well, what materials they avoid and why a handle should not feel aggressive.

Mr Thun, Mr Rodriguez, you don’t like the word ‘sustainability’ one bit...

Matteo Thun: We’d rather focus on aesthetic and technical longevity. How does one achieve this longevity? Matteo Thun: Through simplicity. Simplicity for us is the most important quality in architecture, interior design and product design. When you design residential architecture, what do you consider most important?
Antonio Rodriguez: We care about everything, from the big stuff to the small details. From the building as a whole to the door handles. We always consider the people who will be living in the building.

Do you follow specific design principles?

Matteo Thun: We believe in the strategy of holistic design. A concept that we use to try to understand the challenges of a project – from the very large-scale projects to the very small-scale jobs. We don’t want to limit ourselves to one scale.

How does the perspective of the user come into play?

Matteo Thun: I like to quote Goethe here: ‘The hands want to see, the eyes want to caress.’ We pay attention to whatever people touch, be that with their eyes or their hands. We call this strategy ‘Hi-Touch’.
Antonio Rodriguez: The surface make-up is very important, both in architecture and in design.

What surfaces do you prefer to avoid in your projects?

Antonio Rodriguez: Avoid? Mostly plastic, probably. But even if we aren’t such fans of plastic, especially for furniture, sometimes it is the best solution. The world is not black and white. But in principle we prefer natural materials like wood, stone or metal.
Matteo Thun: We only don’t like plastic because as it well known, it takes so long to decompose. That's true for recycled plastic as well as new plastic, by the way. But sometimes you need it for hygienic reasons.

Wood is one of your favourite materials. While it is a renewable raw material, it is still a limited resource.

Matteo Thun: We only use as much wood as can regrow, through reforestation, for example. Around 90 per cent of our wood comes from hardwood trees.
Antonio Rodriguez: We only work with selected suppliers. Both in architecture and design, we only use certified wood.

And what is your position on using regional or local materials and products?

Matteo Thun: That’s a given for us. But we don’t trust labels like DGNB or LEED. We make choices around the ‘Triple Zero’ standard: zero mileage, zero carbon emissions, zero waste.

Have you ever declined a project for a building or product because it did not align with your principles?

Matteo Thun: Our work is always based on personal relationships. If we cannot trust a potential partner, we don’t work with them.
Antonio Rodriguez: But we’ve never actually had to decline a project. Luckily we have very good clients.

How did you end up working with FSB?

Antonio Rodriguez: FSB came to us. We were really happy because we love the company! A German company delivering German quality. Plus we work on a lot of architectural projects in Germany. For us FSB is the perfect partner.
Matteo Thun: And we love the graphic design of the Otl Aicher catalogue. That’s really important to us!
Antonio Rodriguez: Our collaboration was easy. FSB understood exactly where we wanted to go with the design.

What is your design for the FSB 1285 about?

Antonio Rodriguez: The idea of normality and neutrality. We wanted to create a product that did not disrupt or distract.
Matteo Thun: We didn’t want to make a design statement. The design should be as inconspicuous as possible. When you open a door, you want to experience a new room, not a heroic design statement in the form of a door handle.

What makes the design of such a small, discreet object like a door handle so interesting?

Matteo Thun: A door handle is an essential part of the architecture. In the moment you enter a building, the first thing you touch is a door handle.

What impression should your door handle leave on its users?

Antonio Rodriguez: Softness. Warmth. It should never feel aggressive.

There are lots of different materials and finished for door and window handles.

Antonio Rodriguez: Colours are important these days. The cold metallic look is not really on trend right now. Personally I like bronze the best. And brass!

Bronze and brass are metals that get a nice patina over time.

Matteo Thun: Patina is really important! That’s why we love wood so much as well. Its surface gets more and more beautiful over time. Totally different from concrete, which can look rather hideous after one or two generations.