2_1_DiscoverGermany_May 2015_Issue26:Scan Magazine 1
27/4/15
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Page 27
Discover Germany | Special Theme | Desigh Hub Switzerland
Portrait: Martin Stutz
MS Know How GmbH Interior design as fresh as paint Martin Stutz’s highly variable, patented building elements for interior design play with natural light and induce colour into our uniform living and working spaces. The number of possible applications is infinite, and many shops, restaurants, hotels and homes have already been transformed into inspiring and constantly changing spaces. TEXT: JULIKA HÜTHER | PHOTOS: PRESS IMAGES
Having learnt to use a wide variety of materials to perfection during his training as a boatbuilder, Stutz founded MS Know How GmbH twelve years ago in Zurich, and has been running the company and developing products ever since. Fascinated by glass bricks – and particularly by their effect on people – Stutz decided to design building elements with similar qualities: being translucent, adding colour, and changing with the incidence of natural and electric light. During his training, he discovered the variability of epoxy resin, which is lighter and
much more flexible than glass while still being highly resistant. Colouring the resin by hand, Stutz uses it as a filling material for bearing and non-bearing elements such as steel grids, and wooden and plastic grates, which are available in many different shapes. The result is a range of interior design elements that are individually designed to the customer's specifications in terms of colour and form, and that can be used for a limitless number of purposes, from partitioning walls, floor elements, ceiling panels and
doors to staircase steps, company logos, decorative covers for posts and rotating elements. It is not surprising that Stutz has recently started producing furniture and lighting elements, and has designed everything from hotel bar panellings to toilet installations at a restaurant. The diversity of the product is also reflected in one of Stutz’s newest product ranges called Comix – pictures à la carte.“Whether you are old or young, comics and their stories accompany us for a lifetime and their characters become role models and companions,” says Stutz. He lets them take pride of place at home or at the office, where they spread both colour and joy. Stutz stages three-dimensional comic figurines in coloured epoxy resin, which he then encases in a steel frame, creating more than just a picture. As the little heroes appear to break through the resin, the composition becomes as dynamic as the characters seen on screen or in comic books. www.msknowhow.ch
Issue 26 | May 2015 | 27