Hannes Wettstein was one of the most influential Swiss designers. Even his career path corresponded to someone who didn’t go by the rule book: Wettstein, born in 1958 in Ascona, first completed studies in building draughtsmanship; his further training as designer and architect was autodidactic. He was as fascinated by technological developments as he was by art history and architecture and his manner of developing ideas always had a touch of alchemy or invention. He continually questioned norms, be they societal, industrial, cultural or ritual, in order to be able to reinvent, explained Wettstein. This comprehensiveness was not an attitude but a method. His openness to continually re-thinking all that defines design – daily routines, spatial organisation and the purposes of things – led him to surprisingly simple solutions that stand the test of time. Hannes Wettstein designed functional objects with such elegance and perfection that they took on their own identities, something that momentary fashions can never achieve. In spatial design he also created architypes: site-specific and sensitive overall solutions, interior designs or set designs.