Architects get hands-on:
New handle collections from FSB
FSB feels that decisions for or against a given door handle model always need to be taken bearing the surrounding architecture in mind. A space’s idiom, after all, articulates itself in compressed form in a handle’s design. Either the handle becomes a harmonious part of the whole, or it quite deliberately creates a point of contrast.
The very nature of FSB’s discourse with architects indicates just how deeply engrained in the company’s thinking architecture is. Not only do architects preferredly opt for products from Brakel when equipping their buildings with “functional extensions of the human hand”. In addition, selected beacons of the trade get hands-on themselves with delightful regularity, creating their personal ideal of a door handle for FSB. This is the source of many a noted FSB handle collection constituting “architecture en miniature” in the best sense of the term and reflecting the design approach of their authors in form and function. FSB is presenting three new handle collections in this vein at FENSTERBAU FRONTALE 2016:
FSB 1242 by John Pawson
British architect John Pawson adeptly varies the design vocabulary of a familiar modernist door handle – the “Reich Form” handle by Hans Poelzig – and breathes new life into it with his FSB 1242 design in classy bronze. Pawson has interpreted the formal notion of a snugly nestling oval handle cross-section, an idea that has been repeatedly modified for almost a hundred years now, with the aid of well-proportioned dimensioning. An FSB 1243 variant approved for emergency exit devices under EN 179 is available along with the FSB 1242 model for standard doors. Completing the collection are frame-door handles with and without cranking and a window handle.
FSB 1244 by gmp · architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners
True to the adage that simple is (generally) right, gmp have designed a door lever handle with particularly pared-down credentials. Their FSB 1244 door handle model in Aluminium or Stainless Steel incorporates the simplest of geometric forms.
Its linear front face cites the curvature of the shank and is terminated by a rectangular section. The grip’s cross-section is made up of half a circle and half a square, a compound shape that delivers pleasurable gripping substance for the hand. The forefinger furrow has been fashioned as a lambent transition from handle to shank that ensures ideal guidance as the handle is taken hold of. The FSB 1244 model for standard doors is supplemented by FSB 1245, an EN 179-compliant variant for emergency exit devices, plus a frame-door lever handle with or without cranking and a window handle.
FSB 1246 by Graft
The FSB 1246 lever-handle model combines a modern design idiom with well-rounded ergonomics. Its narrow radii and generously dimensioned arch-overs create points of sculptural momentum and contrast that render this Graft-authored model, uniformly pared down as it is, as aesthetically exciting as it is long-lived. Its pleasantly haptic grip section issues organically from a cylindrical shank and its clean geometric lines will suit a great many architectural contexts. The FSB 1246 lever handle for standard doors is supplemented by an EN 179 variant for emergency exit devices, FSB 1247. Also available are a window handle as well as frame-door lever handles with or without a cranked section.
FSB 1232 – handle collection for schools and day nurseries
The provisions of the DGUV (German Statutory Accident Insurance) specify minimum radii for door lever handles fitted in buildings regularly frequented by children as an accident prevention measure. This precludes the use of strikingly angular handle designs in most cases. It was the degree of visual sameness this has given rise to in door handles that spurred the development of FSB 1232. They aimed to come up with a door lever handle model fulfilling all requirements stipulated for door handles in public buildings. Drawing on the primary shapes of the square and circle, FSB 1232 in Aluminium marries compliance with DGUV provisions to compelling ergonomics and appealing visuals. It can be fitted to both standard doors and emergency exit devices. The FSB 1232 collection also embraces frame-door lever handles with and without cranking and a window handle.
Franz Schneider
Brakel GmbH + Co KG
Karin Padinger
Nieheimer Straße 38
33034 Brakel
Germany
Phone: +49 5272 608-201
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