A deep passion for a craft, a focus on authenticity – things that drive results at Feuerring every day. The designer and steel sculptor Andreas Reichlin sat down with the Schwyz-based architect Ivan Marty, a long-time Feuerring enthusiast, and the photographer Sylvan Müller to discuss the essential and the unessential:

How do you reduce ‹abundance› to end up with the essentials?

SYLVAN
By leaving things out, as I can definitely concentrate better when there’s less going on around me.

How do you decide on what to leave out?

SYLVAN
It’s intuitive. Or by deliberately omitting any unnecessary decorative elements. This ensures the photographed object is the focus of attention and nothing distracts from it. If its quality is good enough, there’s no need to dress it up.

Andreas, what significance does reduction have for the Feuerring?

ANDREAS
The simpler the form, the better it ‹works› in various contexts. The Feuerring looks just as much at home in a traditional setting as it does in modern architecture. The Feuerring would have worked 300 years ago and will surely still do so 300 years from now.

IVAN
Timeless design! The reduced form of the Feuerring actually encourages experimentation.

Ivan, your projects have a very reduced style.

IVAN
Reduction is a central component alongside the materials used. Good architecture functions by being honest to the materials and reducing everything to the essentials.

Is there such a thing as the perfect ‹form spatial solution› based on the theory of the ‹Golden Section›?

IVAN
When discussing matters with customers, I always start with the question of well-being. My favourite question: When you enter a restaurant, where do you choose to sit? In the middle of the room, or with your back to the wall? I then know straight away what’s ‹right› for the customer. I think this is some overarching truth.

ANDREAS
There are situations in which a sculpture appears to be just ‹right›. You could put it somewhere else, but then it would speak a different language. I, too, believe that there are some arrangements which we can say in confidence are universally ‹right›.

SYLVAN
I like the word ‹harmonious› more than ‹right›. There are harmonious arrangements. The question is more about what mood I want to create. I’m therefore interested in the story I want to tell.

Ivan, you develop bespoke customer concepts. How do you deal with compromises?

IVAN
It’s not possible to be uncompromising in our line of work; the biggest compromises are already the basic conditions. After all, it’s not about satisfying my personal needs but about my clients finding the right solution for them.

ANDREAS
When it comes to art, the economic side of things should not be of interest. Sometimes, I have to part with a significant amount of cash up front without being sure of any return on my investment. I do the work first and foremost for myself.

IVAN
This is certainly different to commissioned work. Art is about self-realisation. We are given a regimented structure - a sort of artistic corset - that we have to cater to.

SYLVAN
As the creator, I sometimes have to be honest and tell people that I’m not the right person to bring their ideas to life. If we, nevertheless, manage to stay in touch, there will be continued points of contact. My honesty and the openness of my clients are necessary to ensure an excellent process.

You all create things that are for posterity.

SYLVAN
I don’t really care about posterity, I just want to be happy while I’m working.

IVAN
I do think about whether my work will survive the test of time. When I’m working on a 400-year-old listed building, I sometimes wonder if one of my houses will ever be 100 years old.

What do people see when they look at your rooms, your sculptures, your images?

ANDREAS
I hope they don’t just see the end product but the whole development. The last piece of the puzzle only contains the essence.

IVAN
There are projects where everything comes together like it should. I believe you feel it upon entering the space; and you see how I work.

SYLVAN
I hope that the story is actually perceived by the viewer, without my presence being felt, just my passion for the topic. And this also applies to photography.

What is the Feuerring for you?

ANDREAS
We founded the company because we wanted to pass on the pleasure we get from the Feuerring. I love the way we’ve been able to combine sculpture and functionality. It’s also very satisfying to know that the Feuerring does what it promises.

IVAN
The Feuerring means a lot to me, particularly as I was allowed to accompany you, Andreas, in your development. A Feuerring is incorporated into the planning of all my house designs. I wouldn’t part with that.

SYLVAN
For me, the Feuerring is still more than just an object of art and, through my work, it really has become a sculpture. I’m fascinated by the fact that, in addition to the sculptural power, there is evidently a whole lot more besides. Of course I’ve already considered where the Feuerring could go next to the vineyard …