Maarten Van Severen & Fabian Schwaerzler

Maarten Van Severen studied architecture at the Art Academy in Ghent. He designed his first furniture pieces in 1986 and in the following year established an independent workshop, where he pursued the limited, semi-industrial production of his own furniture designs. For a long time, this unified approach to design and production was a fundamental aspect of his work, which was devoted to the examination of basic furniture types: chair, table, chaise longue, shelving, cabinet. Van Severen developed primary solutions for each that were consistently based on a comprehensive investigation of the questions of form, material and construction. Up until his death in Ghent in the year 2005, Maarten Van Severen worked on a range of designs for Vitra.

The Swiss designer Fabian Schwaerzler was trained as a metalworker before completing his studies in industrial design at the University of the Arts in Zurich. He subsequently worked from 2003 to 2005 as an assistant to Maarten Van Severen in the designer's studio in Ghent, Belgium. Schwaerzler has an affinity for work that spans the boundaries of artisanal craftsmanship and industrial production. He maintains a studio in Zurich, where he develops pieces for series production as well as unique custom-made designs.

Van Severen's well-known design of the .03 chair served as the basis for Fabian Schwaerzler's development of the tall task chair .03 High.