Christian and Michael Sieger’s father, Dieter, established their family business, Sieger Design, in 1964. Chiefly an architecture firm at its beginning, Dieter pivoted toward product design in 1980 when he was tasked with crafting the inside of a sailing yacht—a project that led him to work with bath manufacturer Alape as a specialist in sanitation.
Christian, a business student at the time, joined his father and brother (who started working on industrial design at the studio before he finished his studies) in 1991, bringing the whole family under the roof of Germany’s Harkotten Castle, where Sieger Design has been headquartered for more than 30 years.
Christian and Michael took on different disciplines: the former keeps the books and invoices, while the latter pours his creative energy into nearly three decades of archetype-defining designs, including their well-known tabletop collections. “He must have somehow split up his genes in two different directions,” Christian says of his father. And yet, the crossover between their roles is “all day and night,” says Michael, to which Christian adds: “Michael appreciates me as his honest sparring partner. I’m always telling him the truth.”
The Happy D.2 Plus collection for Duravit boasts soft, rounded corners that bring elegance to the bathroom
While Christian spent the early days beefing up the studio’s tech capabilities for the 21st century, Michael was helping build their portfolio with collaborations with Duravit and Dornbracht. (They formally took over the business when their father departed in 2003.) “The bathroom is still an area with high potential because there’s still a lot of change going on technically speaking,” he says.
Before the COVID-19 outbreak, the brothers were busy releasing the Happy D.2 and Viu bath collections with Duravit. But even when Germany entered a six-week lockdown in March, they saw opportunity. In April, they joined forces with newly minted brand hygn.me to swiftly create safe yet stylish cleaning stations to dispose masks, gloves, disinfectant wipes, and sanitization liquid. “We tried to have it as abstract, clean, and minimalist [as possible] so it can be integrated into hotels, restaurants, and public buildings,” Michael explains. Sieger spearheaded four different stations of various sizes and functions, each available in black or white to complement modern design sensibilities. “Now we have the chance to bring our products to many places around the world,” says Christian, “and hopefully make people’s lives more beautiful, functional, and healthy.”
Part of hygn.me’s partnership with Sieger Design, Station 3 offers streamlined hand hygiene in a compact designPart of hygn.me’s partnership with Sieger Design, Station 3 offers streamlined hand hygiene in a compact design
Photos courtesy of Sieger Design, Duravit, and hygn.me
This article originally appeared in HD’s 2020 Product Marketplace issue.
