Fusital's H379 - The Original Original
Fusital was founded in 1976 with a simple idea of combining functionality and aesthetics into a single object designed by the greatest international architects. If it's not created by an icon of design, it is not a Fusital item.
One such icon of design is Antonio Citterio, who has designed for brands such as Arclinea, Axor-Hansgrohe, B&B Italia, Flexform, Flos, Hermès, Iittala, Kartel and Vitra, and received numerous industry awards and accolades.
He has designed numerous handles for Fusital, but in 2000 he designed the H5015 K2 handle. Note: Fusital have a unique labelling system in that the handle number is always suffixed with the year of creation, therefore 'K2' refers to '2000'.
The H5015 stainless steel handle utilised the metal fabrication technique called 'knurling'. Cross-cut knurling is a great way of adding 'grip' to a metal bar, with this particular type of texture found on every day items such as tools, weightlifting bars, bmx pegs and motorcycle handlebars, so it seemed logical to add this texture to another product where grip is important, the lever handle.
At the time, this style of handle was polarising, perhaps a little too industrial for a market that was exploring more organic shapes. On reflection it now seems that he was well ahead of his time.
In 2012, Buster Minale took his passion for building custom motorbikes and transformed ordinary household objects into extraordinary fittings using the very same texture. Over the next 10 years, his brand Buster + Punch turned the cross-knurl pattern into a global industry trend, inspiring other manufacturers but also spawning the inevitable various replica companies exploiting his work. You wouldn't believe the audacity of some of these replica companies.
Of course, this 'new trend' meant that Antonio Citterio's work now formed part of a global trend, and 20 years after it was first launched, Fusital created a solid brass version of the handle called the H379 AC DUEMILAVENTI.
The H379 is therefore the original, original. The new brass version is available in 3 colours as standard (Dark Matt Bronze, Satin Chrome and Matt Brass) but also available in approximately 32 other colours on request, including a special PVD finish that is guaranteed against corrosion, and therefore perfectly suited to Australia's coastal projects.
Currently specified on 3 large multi-res projects, and recently been installed at a development of 33 luxury residences in an oceanfront location, the H379 is proving a popular choice for the discerning client and astute developer. The quality, properties and colour range is unmatched, and as an added bonus for the design conscious, it is not a replica.
