UBS Monocle
Defining good taste
Bettina Ginsberg and Alexa Früh
Owners, Grimsel
“In one word, Grimsel is a platform,” says co-owner Bettina Ginsberg. “We run a furniture gallery and complement our range with textiles, glass and ceramics. We've also started to produce our own designs with small artisan workshops, as well as sourcing unique vintage pieces. We also offer consultation on colour and interior design.”
The duo’s light-filled premises on the Rhine is the perfect setting to display their cultivated connoisseurship: they are united in their intuitive approach to quality in design and workmanship.
“Current and classic designs often reinforce each other,” says Ginsberg. “A mix should always work in a natural, spontaneous way. We have many overlapping interests but it’s always helpful to have two pairs of eyes looking at something from another angle.
“Our ideas are enriched by our different backgrounds just as Basel, a border city, is enriched by different cultures and languages. It has a certain openness.”
Ginsberg and Früh are much less guided by trends and favourite eras than they are their personal preferences. It’s perhaps why they have become Basel’s unofficial arbiters of taste.
Look out for ceramics from Thomas Bohle and Cécile Daladier, as well as hand-forged Fuschina da Guarda knives in the gallery at St Johanns-Vorstadt 38, 4056 Basel
