German designer Andreas Anetseder is celebrating after winning the German Design Award 2017 for his development of the Krempel, four flexible plastic strips which combine to allow people to keep hot food plates away from kitchen surfaces.
Andreas clearly loves the fun of design and is obsessed with the Krempel. The invention combines functionality with style as you can turn it into three shapes and three different sizes – a pillow, a circle and a fish. The smart trivets which hold the plastic strips together are made of a hard-wearing material that can withstand temperatures of up to 220°C.
Andreas spent a year and a half working on the Krempel’s design, trying out wood and metal before deciding on plastic. The Krempel, which weighs in at 72 grams, is the big brother to the Krempelino which weighs 25 grams and is ideal for a steaming coffee pot.
The 54-year-old interior designer developed the idea after working with Horst Fleischmann, professor of interior design at the FH Rosenheim, in the 1980s. The high-grade plastic he ultimately chose is about 50 times more expensive than commercially available plastic and is also used in high-performance water pipes and overhead luggage lockers.
For his next creation, Andreas is looking into making glasses with solid bases in a range of colours. He had noticed that several countries around Europe served up beers in different glasses while many clubs and bars in Germany were not so inventive and didn’t use such a wide selection of glasses.
