In their imagining an object functional to the gesture of gripping a lever to trigger an action that transforms the space by opening or closing, Franco Albini and Franca Helg designed a handle with the lightness of a bird’s wing, and the profile of a flower. They travelled a road directed toward the expression of organic shapes. The Agata handle reflects their keen search for a point of equilibrium between one thing and its opposite – between a sensual organic mood and geometric linearity; between solidity and lightness; between a precise graphic mark and the volumetric consistency of the material.
All the typical qualities of Albini and Helg’s experimentation with form are recognisable in this small object proportioned to the scale of a hand: making the material lighter; the search for fluid lines; slender geometric shapes; a certain propensity for tapered forms; exactitude; and subtle elegance that is modern and classic at the same time.
— La Rinascente: stairs, Roma 1957
Among ergonomic handles, this is a classic of good Italian design.