Obituary - Professor Fritz Haller (1924 to 2012) Swiss Furniture Designer & Architect

To our family, Professor Fritz Haller will always remain amongst the world’s finest furniture designers and architects.

Professor Fritz Haller was born in Solothurn in Switzerland in 1924 and worked in several architectural practices between 1941 and 1943, before going on to set up in his own practice.

Professor Fritz Haller specialized in the design of modern contemporary building structures, using a minimum number of components to achieve the greatest number of variations of shape and space.

In 1960, Professor Fritz Haller was commissioned to design a modern factory building for a Swiss window supplier, Ulrich Schaerer, based in Munsingen just outside Berne. His modern design was an immediate success, so in 1963 Professor Fritz Haller was asked to continue the theme by designing an office building for the same client, using smaller scale components but keeping the design visual very similar.

Professor Fritz Haller’s furniture range was then supplied outside the factory from 1963 until 1969 to family and friends, but it truly became commercially available in 1969 when Lord Rothschild purchased a quantity of the furniture for the Rothschild’s Bank in Switzerland.

In 1970, Professor Fritz Haller ceased to be directly involved with the design development of the furniture range and this was subsequently handled by the company’s own in house design team.

Professor Fritz Haller’s furniture and architectural designs will be remembered long after his death. His passing will be a milestone in a generation of iconic world class designers and he will be truly missed by those of us who knew him.

Scott Appleton
Managing Director
Scott Howard Office Furniture Ltd