Otto Künzli
Essay
The Confederation has awarded Otto Künzli the Swiss Grand Award for Design in honour of his oeuvre and his teaching career as a professor and head of the jewellery department at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München. He is one of the most important jewellery designers in Europe and well known internationally. His creations are clear, reduced and yet often ambiguous. His subtle studies in cultural phenomena lead at times to radical statements on such topics as consumerism, the arbitrariness of values, power, vanity and exploitation, to which he often gives an ironic and playful twist. His work is represented in many national and international collections of jewellery. In the course of his teaching career at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, he has had the privilege of training a number of jewellers who now enjoy great renown.
