(smow) blog compact Berlin Design Week Special: Werkschau Sebastian Herkner at Rosenthal Berlin

Since the late 1950s Bavarian porcelain manufacturer Rosenthal has cooperated with an impressive roster of international designers to create new objects and product families, notable cooperations including those with Raymond Loewy, Walter Gropius, Wilhelm Wagenfeld, Jasper Morrison or Patricia Urquiola.

One of the firms most recent collaborations is and was with Offenbach am Main based Sebastian Herkner.

A graduate of the Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach am Main, Sebastian Herkner established his own studio in 2006 where in addition to his much celebrated Bell Coffee Table, Bell Side Table and Bell Light collections through Classicon has also developed projects for manufactures as varied as Moroso, Pulpo, Böwer or La Chance.

The cooperation with Rosenthal represents Sebastian Herkner’s first foray into the world of porcelain design and the results can currently be enjoyed in a showcase at Rosenthal’s Berlin Flagship store.

The medial highlight of the cooperation is without question the Collana vase family, a combination of glass and porcelain in richly decadent yet quietly unassuming creations that work just as well as objects in their own right as they function as vases. Falda, a close relative of the Collana family presents a similar character, just replacing the quiet unassuming nature with a lot more rich decadence through the gold “collar”. Keeping things traditional Sebastian Herkner rounds off his first Rosenthal cooperation with the tea service Wan; a tea service that, again, combines glass and porcelain.

In addition to Sebastian Herkner’s work with Rosenthal the Berlin showcase also presents further examples of Sebastian Herkner’s canon including, for example, the aforementioned Bell Table, the Unam Chair for Very Wood by Gervasoni or Container for Pulpo. Presenting the objects as both finished products and in making off/prototype form the exhibition allows a wider, if all too brief, glimpse into the creative process as understood by Sebastian Herkner.

Werkschau Sebastian Herkner can be viewed at Rosenthal, Kurfürstendamm 200, 10719 Berlin until Saturday June 28th.