knot by john caswell hands on door handles shortlist

knot handle

‘knot door handle’ by john caswell from UK is one of the shortlisted entries from our recent designboom competition ‘hands on door handles’ organized by designboom in collaboration with COLOMBO design. the door handle contest yielded entries from more than 6, 000 participants and has been juried by UK designer jasper morrison and US-based reiser and umemoto architects. material variations

‘after experimenting by knotting cord, I noticed that a simple overhand knot forms a perfect 90 degree junction. I used this simple junction as the main focus of my handle design. the final handle is designed to look as if it has been impossibly formed by knotting a metal bar.‘ john caswell

technical specification

knots have been the subject of interest for their ancient origins, it is a seemingly esoteric subject. consider their common uses, and the area of mathematics. but it does not take a mathematician to enjoy this door handle, … there have been many submissions with a similar intervention, we examined all the variations and this door handle has been selected because of its more precise formal approach: the knot is simple, but deemed to be aesthetic on the grounds of ‘symmetry’ and ‘balance’.

— those wishing to republish an excerpt of this article, please have the courtesy to link back to this original article, and to mention that the project was conceived for the designboom and  COLOMBO award: ‘hands on door handles’.

designboom would like to invite our readers to an evening at the triennale di milano. organized in collaboration  with colombo design, the event will feature a lecture by french designer jean marie massaud and will reveal the results of the international door handle competition ‘hands on door handles’. cocktail reception to follow. free entrance.

small details make up the big picture. landscape, architecture, interior design and door handles. triennale di milano – sala d’onore, viale alemagna 6, milan

may 31st, 2011, 6:00 pm