The feeling for spaces and materials

BEST OF | Summer 2024

Whether Tobias Petri and Sven Petzold ran straight to the cinema in the spring of 1997 when Bille August’s film “Fräulein Smillas Gespür für Schnee” (“Smilla’s Sense of Snow”) had just been released can no longer be said for sure. They certainly saw the thriller back then. There must have been something in the air, a willingness to listen to their own senses, their very own talents, something that had to do precisely with this kind of intuition and its inherent possibilities. In the case of the two young carpenters, it was an extraordinarily fine feeling for wood, for its textures, its warmth, its processing properties, simply the pure desire to work with it – at any rate, it was precisely at that time that Petri and Petzold set about opening their own studio in Munich. Holzrausch was born.

A good 25 years have passed since then, during which the two designers have long since earned a reputation beyond the country’s borders as having established one of the most advanced interior design offices on the scene. As a planning office for interior design with its own workshops, Holzrausch Studio designs and realises exclusive interior design projects – all over the world. The interplay between design, planning and craftsmanship could not be closer. Designers, factory planners and craftsmen are in constant dialogue on site and are united in their desire to bring individual design concepts to fruition. “With Holzrausch Studio, we design spaces in a very comprehensive sense,” summarises Tobias Petri. “What we design, we also realise ourselves. In our own workshops and together with a finely curated network of experts and like-minded people, designers and craftsmen who have grown over many years and who not only understand our requirements, but also share them from the bottom of their hearts.”

Only Individuality & Quality count

When Tobias Petri and Sven Petzold look at rooms, they primarily see design spaces. Nothing fascinates them more than the opportunity to emphasise the uniqueness of a place with special materials and individually developed functional solutions. Focussing on the raw material, Holzrausch Studio develops holistic concepts that bear a minimalist, timeless signature and are only committed to a single standard: unconditional quality. “Everything else is never the same, because our customers are never the same,” continues Tobias Petri. “Measure twice, cut once,” is the saying among woodworkers. “Ask three times, we still put that first,” adds Sven Petzold. Listen carefully, take a close look and then get to work with uncompromising consistency. “We don’t just work for our customers, we work with them. Our answers are never the easy way. But always one that is worthwhile. Because it always leads to something new that hasn’t been there before,” is how Petzold and Petri formulate their credo – over two decades of experience, refinement and constantly pushing the boundaries.

Casa Morelli, Radda in Chianti, Tuscany

Beyond the edges

The smallest detail is the greatest, and no detail is left to chance. For Holzrausch Studio, dedication means absolute precision and extends to the furthest corner. Even if you may never get to see it. With their interior design studio, Petri, Petzold and their team conceptualise and supervise projects holistically, no matter where in the world. Whether it’s an existing or new build, they bring the different trades together in the spatial planning and its implementation and also develop customised furniture and lighting. “Translating the essence of a material into the aesthetics of customised architecture is what drives us,” sums up Sven Petzold. “We create rooms and furniture that bear a minimalist, timeless signature.” Everything from a single source – it’s so easy to say. But the spectrum between system catering and Michelin-starred cuisine is notoriously wide – it’s easy to guess where Holzrausch Studio fits in.

Petri and Petzold have succeeded in creating an unmistakable signature in which cultural knowledge, master craftsmanship and the curious utilisation of a wide range of materials that extends far beyond wood come together to form a dense amalgam. Basically, the two designers look beyond the edges of their plates. Both in terms of inspirational trips around the world and concrete projects, such as the many sophisticated private residences from the hills of Tuscany to Fisher Island, or the new Leica Stores for which Holzrausch Studio is responsible internationally – they recently celebrated their opening in New York. This is exactly the path that Holzrausch will continue to follow.

Casa Blanca, Ibiza

Designs for eternity

Everything Petri and Petzold do, they do with a far-sighted view of the day after tomorrow. Not only because the selected materials endure and mature instead of fading. But also, because Holzrausch Studio’s designs decidedly do not follow fashions. Because they endure. Good things do not lose their relevance.

Deli Residence, Miami, Fisher Island

Many can create beautiful rooms, and so can distinctive furnishings. But what is immediately apparent in the work of Tobias Petri and Sven Petzold with Holzrausch Studio is a holistic harmony of elements in which the design, the accuracy in the selection of materials with surfaces that you can’t keep your hands off and the quality of the workmanship come together harmoniously and compellingly. There would be enough material to make a new film. What could it be called? Mr Petri’s and Mr Petzold’s Sense of Space, of course.