Axor, the designer brand of bathroom specialist Hansgrohe SE, revealed five prototypes for avant-garde mixer spouts in Milan.

Each year, as part of its WaterDream project, Axor invites a group of international architects and designers to consider water and the living space, and come up with designs.

For WaterDream 2016, Axor invited architect David Adjaye, furniture designer Werner Aisslinger, design group Front, design studio GamFratesi and architect Jean-Marie Massaud to conceptualise the ultimate water mixer spout for the bathroom of the future. It had to fit on Axor’s U-Base, a universal mixer base for spouts.

Ritual

David Adjaye’s bronze-and-granite sculptural creation, celebrates the ritual of modern living. The water itself is ritualised, from source to flow and eventually descent.

Mimicry

“We didn’t want to simply create a mixer, an object that dispenses water; we wanted to accomplish perfect integration into an architectural landscape,” says architect Jean-Marie Massaud about Mimicry, his tap design that sees the marble merged in harmony with the water.

Water Steps

Water Steps by Anna Lindgren and Sofia Lagerkvist of Front focuses on the playful exchange between water and form.

Zen

Zen, from design studio GamFratesi, is an interpretation of an Oriental bamboo fountain, exploring “the honest connection between water and nature in a spiritual way”, explains the duo, architects Stine Gam and Enrico Fratesi.

The Sea and the Shore

The Sea and the Shore is German furniture designer Werner Aisslinger’s design. Made of clay, the design is a hybrid, combining the idea of a shelf and a fountain. The shelf symbolises the beach and the water fountain symbolises the sea, constantly filling the beach with fresh water.

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A collaboration between the French designer and Hansgrohe’s designer brand, AXOR, has led to the reinvention of the humble tap.

Designed to show off the vitality of nature, the AXOR Starck V tap by Philippe Starck, in collaboration with Hansgrohe, makes use of a specially designed mixer that pushes water into a spinning vortex before channelling it into the open-ended spout. The tap’s crystal glass body is an organic sculptural shape that shows off the clear liquid inside a tap mixer for the first time, allowing users to experience this precious natural resource in a completely new way.

Watch how it works below.

Visit hansgrohe.co.za for more information.

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In a 21st-century in which space, time and natural resources are experiencing massive constraints, it’s time to redefine the bathroom says Philippe Grohe. Hansgrohe’s designer brand Axor’s main man, Philippe was the driving force behind the WaterDream project that we featured in the new SPRINGLOADED VISI 68. Recently he was in Joburg to launch the Hansgrohe Inspiration Centre in Kramerville and the Starck Organic range of designer bathroom products. VISI chatted to him about life, butterflies and beautiful bathrooms.

When you were a child, what did you want to grow up to be?

That’s a difficult question! My grandfather was a doctor in Switzerland and when I was a little boy, I often visited his office. I was always so intrigued by all the prescriptions and receipts lying around and one day, I scratched out his title on one of the cards and replaced it with what I wanted to be one day – a researcher of insects. I love research! But today, although I have a scientific and photographic background, I don’t run around with a white shirt and net chasing butterflies anymore. I still do research in a way though – through travelling a lot and really taking in all the amazing things around me.

What is a good bathroom to you?

In today’s society, where we have to make do with less space and people are on a budget, I think the absolute minimum requirement is a good shower. One that evokes maximum emotion with minimum stress on natural resources, in this case water. In other words, getting the best feeling from using the least amount of water. Today’s bathroom is not the same as some decades ago when it was purely a hygienic and functional space. Modern ablutions are often small these days and they somehow have to manage a combination between nature and technology. Water is a very demanding element that needs to be respected and controlled. We are in fact highly functional animals who mostly live in cities where things move faster and on tight schedules. It’s not natural. It’s demanding. Thus, the modern bathroom should incorporate nature through intelligent use of natural light in economical shared home spaces to maximise emotional benefits and help balance the demands of modern life. 

What do you do in the business?

I am responsible for Hansgrohe’s luxury designer brand, Axor. I function as a type of bridge between the company and the creatives we work with on experimental projects like the Axor WaterDreams (read more about it in the SPRINGLOADED VISI 68). I have to fight for that kind of freedom in the company, as there are always questions about how much money creative projects generate for the business and how viable they are. It all inspires the team though and together we explore the possibilities of new concepts and design.

Tell us about the Hansgrohe Inspiration Centre.

Water is a commodity that must be respected. It’s a global phenomenon that most people don’t realise the value of water enough. They do what their parents have always done: start their day by opening a tap, the same kind that’s always been there, in the same way, expecting the same thing. We have researched the water and the bathroom issue extensively. Lifestyles need to change. We have to question the meaning of the house, learn to value what is important to us. Bourgeois 20th-century ideas of neatly compartmentalising space into sleeping, living and washing areas need to change. Once people start thinking creatively about their living spaces, a lot of new possibilities will open up then, like combining it with a gym, a garden, etc. The Inspiration Centre is just that, a place that will inspire people to think of their living spaces as experiences in ambience as well as being highly functional. It’s for everybody, from interior designers and architects to people who want to create their own perfect bathroom.

How is the new Axor Starck Organic range special?

It’s simply a new cocktail made up of the highest technology and creative design, and it does exactly what we at Hansgrohe strive to do – getting the best out of it while treating it with respect. The Axor Starck Organic range works with half the quantity of water than usual taps! It’s an intelligent, environmentally conscious, ergonomically designed product with handles integrated into the body of the spout. We have been collaborating with Philippe Starck for 20 years now and over time we have gotten to know each other well, and know how to work with one another’s strengths and limitations. Philippe pushes you and addresses new product designs with a buoyant freshness, like a kid (see Philippe talk about his Axor Starck Organic range here).

What inspires you?

Everything, frankly. I am privileged to be able to travel often and I have learnt that one has to look at the smallest things in order to see everything. It’s how we observe things that bring us inspiration. This can happen in the most unexpected places and with the strangest of things. 

www.hansgrohe.co.za

Read more about the pioneering WaterDream project with Scandinavian design trio Front and Japanese topical Japanese design studio Nendo in the SPRINGLOADED VISI 68 available at selected stockists or get the digital edition right now. 

See more of our coverage of the budding Kramerville design district here.

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For the past few seasons there has been a return to traditional bathroom design with an emphasis on romantic, old world charm. This yearning for a bygone era of safe comfort and warmth has become a global trend, but can easily become pastiche and the challenge for designers and homemakers is to reinterpret this era in sophisticated contemporary interiors for long-lasting style.

Interior designer Patricia Jackson says this nostalgic trend can easily be incorporated in sophisticated bathrooms of today, without the risk of dating a space that is expensive to update. 

Says Patricia: “Bathrooms and kitchens are usually the most expensive rooms in a home and choosing fittings, fixtures and finishes are influenced by functionality, durability as well as personal taste. If you are fitting expensive sanitary ware, taps, mixers and shower heads – make sure it will stand the test of time and not limit you to a look that will be out of date tomorrow.”

Patricia’s top tips for creating a bathroom with dreamy old-world charm

• Go for elegance and new technology appropriate to our times rather than the outdated merely for the look – interpret the era in a contemporary way. Choose classic sanitary ware and fittings with elegant lines that will not date.
• German-designed Hansgrohe and Axor taps, mixers and showers are available in a wide range to suit every bathroom style and budget, with the benefits of water and energy saving technology, and exceptional durability.
• The Hansgrohe Classic ranges, such as Talis Classic and Metris Classic, and the Axor Montreaux range, interpret classic styles in a sinuous more contemporary manner while still complementing and enhancing traditional sanitary ware.
• The new nostalgic look is all about comfort and ease, so try to create a home spa environment. The Hansgrohe Raindance Air Classic mixes air and water to give you the feeling that you are showering under the rain. 
• The Metaflex shower hoses are reminiscent of those on the old “telephone” hand showers, but the plastic covered coil hosing is easy to clean without the old dirt trapping crevices.
• For modern yet classic taps and mixers, opt for Hansgrohe’s Metris Classic or Talis Classic designs that have a full range of products for every application in the bathroom. Its sensual decorative lines and basic geometric forms, coupled with classic elements, are not only on trend but also timeless.
• The Axor Montreaux is a stylish high-end bathroom collection that takes you back to the early 20th century. Whether in a traditional or modern environment, its highly reliable design provides an authentically styled bathroom. It is ideal for those wishing to create an European spa-styled bathroom.
• Create the new nostalgic look with accessories and finishes that can easily be changed. An antique mirror, plush embroidered towels, a dramatic chandelier, and an oriental rug and silver etched glass accessories that can easily be substituted should you wish to change your look in future.

www.hansgrohe.co.za

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