Designer Spotlight - Hannes & Fritz
For design duo Hannes & Fritz, creativity is as much about making as it is about thinking. Their studio practice is rooted in curiosity for how things come together—an interest that stretches from early experiments in workshops and garages to their present focus on furniture and industrial design. “Design allows us to transform abstract thoughts into very tangible objects,” they explain. “It’s life. We observe constantly and find great satisfaction in clever, beautiful, and unexpected solutions.”
Their design philosophy revolves around longevity—both physical and aesthetic. They see construction and connection as essential to durability, and clarity as key to character. “Products stay alive if they hold a certain tension,” they note. “Something that keeps you attached to them.” This balance between logic and soul defines their work, where formal reduction never excludes warmth or personality.
Although still early in their career, Hannes & Fritz describe their practice as becoming more concept-driven over time. Much of their design thinking happens in the workshop, where ideas are tested in mock-ups and prototypes. “Many of our best ideas come while the table saw is still running,” they laugh. Physical making is not only a tool but also a source of joy—an active part of their process that keeps intuition and experimentation at the forefront.
Their personal stories converge in this hands-on approach. Hannes first explored creativity through music, tinkering with drums, trumpet, and even Photoshop before a high school internship sparked his fascination with design. A brief attempt at transportation design gave way to a love of furniture and objects—an area where he found greater freedom and resonance. Fritz, meanwhile, grew up surrounded by tools and craft, learning woodworking, welding, and instrument building from an early age by his next door neighbor. Today, that same spirit lives on in his passion for restoring old motorcycles and spending Monday nights in the workshop, with “dirty hands and free minds.”
The spaces they inhabit also reflect their outlook. During their years in Lausanne, even the most modest of settings became part of their journey. Much of their early work was plotted inside Hannes’s tiny red-and-silver Smart car—an unlikely studio on wheels that carried not only long conversations and late-night ideas but also literal tons of wood and material. “It was with us in the early mornings, the late nights, and the first steps of what we are today,” they recall.
At home, both mix prototypes and self-built pieces with design objects they admire, creating interiors that are both practical and personal. For Hannes, the most telling object is his oversized Italian ice cream machine, placed boldly on his desk—“a spaceship next to pens and paper, and a perfect expression of my love for cooking and hosting.” For Fritz, it’s a Ypperlig shelf that embodies his appreciation for solid, thoughtful design built to last.
If not designers, their paths might have led elsewhere—law or cooking for Hannes, architecture or mechanics for Fritz. But in the end, their choice feels inevitable: a shared passion for making things tangible, enduring, and meaningful. Even their collaboration with Normann Copenhagen reflects this. “The toolbox was probably one of our most difficult designs,” they reveal. “Not everything that looks simple is easy work.”
Their philosophy remains simple, if not easy: to design objects that endure, connect, and quietly surprise.
Quick Ones
Design piece you admire:
H: Eames Elephant
F: Alfa Romeo GT Junior in metallic silver
A film you return to:
H: Ocean’s Thirteen
F: Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels
A dish you love:
H: Kalbsfilet Geschnetzeltes “Kronenhalle”
F: Japanese Tantanmen Ramen
An artist/band that brings you joy:
H: Future, Pat Metheny, Gerhard Richter, Friedrich Dürrenmatt
F: Hermanos Gutierrez
Something completely random:
H: I really enjoy ironing clothes with lots of steam and lots of attention.
F: I like to jump into cold water—literally.
