Prof. Fritz Frenkler

Academic Career and Research Areas

The research being carried out by Prof. Fritz Frenkler (b. 1954) at the Chair of Industrial Design focuses on the challenges of ecologically justifiable mass production and shifting social patterns due to demographic change, coupled with universal design. Design skills are aligned to the principles of New Functionality (second modernity) favored by Prof. Fritz Frenkler and the scientific orientation of design.

Prof. Frenkler studied industrial design at the Academy of Fine Arts (HBK) in Braunschweig. He was managing director of frogdesign Asia, managed the company wiege Wilkhahn Entwicklungsgesellschaft and worked as head designer for Deutsche Bahn AG. In 2000, he founded f/p design germany gmbh with Anette Ponholzer, followed by the f/p design representation in Japan in 2012. The ongoing success led to the founding of the subsidiary f/p design co.ltd. In 2018 as an independent subsidiary of f/p design gmbh. He was made an honorary professor at HBK Braunschweig in 2005. In 2006, he was appointed full professor of the newly-created Chair of Industrial Design at TUM. Fritz Frenkler is a regional advisor of the wdo (former ICSID) and has been jury chairman of the iF product design awards for many years. Since 2018, he is a board member of the iF Design Foundation, Hanover. Since 2013, fritz frenkler had been a member of the akademie der künste (academy of arts) berlin, section for architecture, and in 2021 he became a director of the architecture section.

Awards

• Braun Prize, Kronberg, Deutschland (1983)
• Compasso d'Oro, Mailand, Italien (1998)
• G-Mark, Tokyo, Japan (1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009)
• iF Product Design Award, Hannover, Deutschland (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010)
• The Chicago Athenaeum Good Design Award, Chicago, USA (1996, 1999, 2000)