H.O.M.E & flair, on page 18, Laura Pomer

Observation is the most beautiful form of thinking, Alfredo Häberli once said. For him, it leads to products that are extremely friendly to people: Chairs that are pleasant to sit on, glasses that you can't get enough of, Porsche paintings that almost turn a road racer into something delicate, cheerful-looking furniture. The designs of the Zurich-based product designer are always a little playful. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that it was toys that made him want to become a designer. When he moved to Switzerland from Buenos Aires with his parents in 1977 at the age of 13, he was not allowed to take more with him on the journey than his box of Matchbox cars. Their sleek shapes, he says, prompted him to take up a design profession. His main field of activity today: everyday objects that are anything but everyday, but pleasing in the most positive sense of the word, «nice» and timeless classics.

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Raum und Wohnen, on page 84, Silja Cammarata

Numerous attempts to damage the surface of the «DiaStar» in front of the public failed. It was marketing campaigns of this kind that helped the timepiece from 1962 to become famous and popular. The world's first scratch-resistant watch has now been adequately celebrated with an Anniversary Edition by Alfredo Häberli.

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Espaces Contemporains, on page 78, Maxime Pégatoquet

Each year, the Espaces du Design selection draws up a summary of Swiss design over the past year and highlights particularly inspiring projects. Although the sector suffered quite a bit during the two years of the pandemic, particularly in terms of visibility, the return to normality is accompanied by new products that often make sense in their approach and design. More responsible, more sustainable products, designed with a certain economy of means or responding to the problems of care in the broadest sense. Care is taken with objects, but above all with their impact, their use, their coherence in a certain way. As Georges Perec says, quoted in David Enon's La vie matérielle mode d'emploi, «what we need to question is the brick, the concrete, the glass, our table manners, our utensils, our tools...» Thus, it is no longer a question of producing for the sake of producing, but above all of reflecting. And, in view of the diversity and quality of the objects selected, it can be said that Switzerland is confirming its status as a land of design.

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DAAily Bar Milan, Simon Keane-Cowell

Alfredo Häberli used his Live Talk at the DAAily bar during Milan Design Week to, among other things, explain the importance of analogue experiences and the human connections to be found in showrooms and at events like the Salone del Mobile and Fuorisalone. «It is not easy to communicate a sofa in a digital way,» explained the designer. «It is like a piece of art, a sculpture. You need to walk around it.»

NZZ, on page 31, Sabine von Fischer

Zurich designer Alfredo Häberli takes on practically everything. A visit to the studio.

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