7.5 Questions for Alfredo Häberli

The fifth questionee in our series "7.5 Questions for . . ." is Alfredo Häberli. In his Zurich studio Alfredo Häberli Design Development, founded in 1991, he develops designs for beds, lamps, furniture, crockery, and much more, but he also creates entire interiors and store layouts. His illustrious list of clients includes companies such as BMW, Camper, Moroso, Vitra, or Zanotta. 
Alfredo Häberli’s two-volume work Verbal Doodling. 30 Years, Questions and Answers was recently published by Scheidegger & Spiess. The first volume sees the prestigious designer talk about people, places, and objects that have influenced and shaped his creative work.
For the second volume, Häberli asked 30 personalities from his circle to each ask him one question—which he answers both honestly and with humor. Magazin-columnist and author Max Küng, for example, wants to know which three cars Häberli would take on a deserted island. Internationally acclaimed art curator Hans Ulrich Obrist asks him about his unrealized projects, while British design critic Alice Rawsthorn poses the question of all questions: What is design? And what should it be?

Like all the people involved in this series, Alfredo Häberli received a questionnaire that was curated especially for him—with personal questions as well as references to the aforementioned book or to his work. 

1. Which product would you never dare to redesign because the original is simply perfect?
As a young designer, I still had this respect or even awe. But over the course of my three decades working in this field, I’ve become more relaxed about the so-called “icons of design.” There is (hopefully) always something to improve. For example, my watch redesign of the “Rado Diastar” (a 60-year-old iconic design) was a difficult and yet very successful reinterpretation. In the same way, last year’s art car project with my Porsche 356 SC is a good example of evoking a new perspective with dignity and respect for the original design. I am no longer afraid of the challenge posed by a redesign—at the same time, I wouldn’t accept it at any price.  

2. What is the worst question you have ever been asked? (And if you still remember the answer—fill us in!)
The podium for the worst question I’ve ever been asked would have to be fought over by journalistic questions that are so poorly researched that the words get stuck in my throat. Then, of course, there are the evergreens that have come up in every interview for thirty years and are now so worn out that they make me want to yawn more than answer. 
 

3. Gottfried Keller was immortalized in Zurich with a mighty stone head at Enge harbor, Pipilotti Rist was allowed to create an artistic monument called Touching Lights in front of the new Kunsthaus building. If it ever came to that—how would Alfredo Häberli like to see his work honored in Zurich?
If I ever had the honor of seeing my work immortalized in Zurich, then please don’t carve it in stone. As an industrial designer, I am more interested in giving something back to the city that I love—be it through the design of new park benches, the creation of a fountain square, or an extraordinary playground where small children and older people can come together. The joy of the elderly watching the younger generation and the conversations that this generates is of great importance. Such a place in a central location would be a very nice honor. In fact, I came close to this once before, when I participated in a competition for new Christmas lighting on Bahnhofstrasse. As for statues, I’m happy to do without—me sitting on a horse is not a sight for public spaces, even if I may be a Swiss Gaucho at heart. 

4. What question would you (theoretically) have asked yourself in the book?
Do we have too much design?