Design by FRANZ

Design by FRANZ is the brand of the pipe workshop Swiss architect Franz von Matt founded in 1998. Over roughly a decade of production, the brand was known for treating the shape of the pipe as a design question rather than repeating established molds; von Matt's name is mentioned together with the period when pipe making briefly gained visibility in Switzerland.

An Architect's Second Career

Raised in Zurich, von Matt worked as a freelance architect holding a technical-college diploma (HTL). This profession, based on measurement and tolerance, later became the foundation for his work at the bench as well; repairing antique clocks with metal and wooden gears in his spare time had also accustomed his hand to fine work. A longtime pipe smoker, von Matt turned his hobby into his main occupation in 1998. He set up his workshop in an old house in the village of Teufenthal in the canton of Aargau, at the foot of the medieval Trostburg Castle; the workshop appears in records under the name Pipe-Factory 22, while products were signed with the label Design by FRANZ. According to records, only four people were making pipes in Switzerland at the time, and von Matt was the only one pursuing it full time.