Helmut Bätzner

Germany

Person

Designer

Born 2 January 1928 Nagold, Germany Died 18 January 2010 Karlsruhe, Germany Helmut Bätzner trained as a cabinetmaker in Stuttgart in the 1940s and studied architecture at the Staatsbauschule Stuttgart in the 1950s. As a student and employee of Rolf Gutbrod, he worked on the new-build of the Liederhalle in Stuttgart from 1951 to 1956. He graduated with a diploma in 1960. In 1962/63, he was a fellow at the Villa Massimo in Rome. From 1963 to 1966, he taught at the Werkkunstschule Krefeld. From 1964, he ran his own architecture practice in Karlsruhe and also designed furniture in connection with his building projects. His best-known designs include the plastic chair BA 1171, developed between 1964 and 1966 and widely known as the Bofinger Chair. From 1970 to 1975, he realized the new-build of the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe. Thereafter, he undertook further architectural commissions, mainly in and around Karlsruhe.