Product designer Christian Metzner was born in Brandenburg, Germany in 1983. Metzner studied architecture at Potsdam’s University of Applied Sciences (FH Potsdam) from 2003 to 2004; from 2004 to 2012, he studied product design at the school, graduating with a diploma in 2012. Since 2013, Metzner has taken classes in textile engineering at the University of Applied Sciences for Engineering and Economics in Berlin. In addition to his educational pursuits, Metzner worked as a design assistant for designers Stefan and Saskia Diez in Munich in 2010.

Metzner established his eponymous studio in Potsdam in 2006; he moved to Berlin in 2007. His work ranges from functional tabletop, handbag, and jewelry designs to concept-driven, experimental products, such as Ikarus (2007), a melting wax lamp. Inspired by the notion of visualizing electricity as well as consumer culture’s dependence on short-lived products, Ikarus was designed to melt over time in such a way that its lampshade reforms itself on a surface below. Additionally, in 2012, Metzner began collaborating with entrepreneur Philipp Bree on PB 0110, a German-based, handmade bag brand. In 2013, he started collaborating with New Tendency, a Berlin-based design editor. Describing his designs, Metzner says, “Always in search of perfect proportions and manual precision, my work oscillates between laboratory aesthetics, progressive design, and antiquated elegance.”