Valuable stimulation was given in the area of technical innovation as well as the design side. Both these areas are of course closely connected. Personally I am neither willing nor able to see product development detached from the holistic approach to interior design. The bathroom is changing and is gaining in importance as a living area which in itself demands new and more emotional products. In this area I can often benefit from the technical innovations and products of the Hansgrohe brand. Take for example the Hansgrohe AIR technology, which gave a real boost to the emotional experience of showering. There are so many shapes water and the bathroom can adopt, that we have by no means exhausted all the possibilities.

 

Not everything needs to be new all the time, sometimes it is enough to rediscover something old. Our sensitivity to the emotional side of water is constantly increasing in parallel with technological developments and our increasing alienation from nature. Therefore the experience of water should in future show more respect for this resource and its true worth. The waterfall spray of the Axor Starck X collection which we first introduced in 2005 is surely also a very special way of experiencing water. Here the water gushes in a wide waterfall spray, similar to a real waterfall, into the basin. This is surely the most natural and – by the way the skin is suffused by the water – most emotional form of water. And on top of that, the fitting has outstanding water-saving qualities.

 

The fact is the bathroom is changing from a purely functional “washing machine� to living space and room. This requires new approaches and solutions with which we can, at best, positively influence the quality of life of modern, urban people. And this is exactly what we deal with in our day-to-day work, what drives and motivates us to translate these changes into new solutions and better products.

 

We don’t create products in isolation, but collections which consist of a comprehensive design range which enables and supports a defined use both aesthetically and functionally. In the Axor Massaud collection, for example, emotion is the focal point. Emotion as regards the bathroom living space, as well as the product itself. In particular this is not only about the emotional waterfall spray, but also the fact that products are in no way any longer dominated by technical or mechanical features and yet still offer the highest levels of functionality. The design not only combines geometric and organic elements in a harmonising way, but also the technology of a luxurious waterfall spray with below-average water consumption. The fittings are simply real ornaments in the bathroom.

 

Behind each Axor collection is indeed a design concept which actually makes more of a product than just a product. In dialogue with our designers we endeavour to develop bathroom designs and spatial concepts beyond purely functional aspects and varied styles. On the one hand this is made possible by the comprehensive and extensive product collections with a range of between 60 to 100 products which offer countless solutions and possibilities for combinations of handbasin, bathtub and shower. On the other hand we understand design not only as design for design’s sake or pure form alone.

 

What’s special about these collections is also their versatility and the effect they have on the room as a whole. With each collection Axor offers a great number of products, which customers can choose from like letters of the alphabet in order to execute their own ideas and plans. The spatial concepts intend to inspire and give direction without being prescriptive. However, we do not offer the “dream bathroom� concept which has nothing to do with reality. Our suggestions also include design and spatial concepts for small bathrooms with an area of up to six square metres. These solutions too were developed by the designer himself and contain all the elements which are characteristic of his spatial concept.

 

Interview: Frank A. Reinhardt