Luxury at second glance

What makes luxury luxury?

This is the kind of question that can be answered not only at a material but also at a philosophical level, and one that has extensively been studied by Antonio Citterio. From the moment he was commissioned for creating a bathroom range by the managers of Hansgrohe, he considered taps not as separate entities but as organic parts of the bathroom.

A place for cleanness and relaxation.
As such, Antonio Citterio has divided the bathroom into two parts – the site for cleanness and relaxation where water is vital and washing becomes ceremony. Citterio found a new definition for this place: “Water is wealth, water is luxury. This makes the bathroom, being the source of water extremely important and the appliances must mirror this significance” says Citterio. With his co-operator Toan Nguyen he created a bathroom series that makes the wealth of water perceptible – with its clean shapes, luxurious details, and the myriad of choices. The Axor Citterio range provide a new kind of luxury: “The luxury at second glance” – as it is suggested in Axor’s official marketing material.

Antonio Citterio was born in Milan in 1950 and acquired fame as an architect and designer in the past thirty years. He is a firm believer of the traversability between the different areas – architecture and design, form and function. His views of space take form in revolutionary and harmonious solutions – no further proof is required than the buildings designed for B&B Italia or Cerutti. “When I start a new project I first try to define the most extreme of boundaries and then go and concentrate on details. Design must follow every-day routines: technology must be no more than a means to an end” Citterio explains. The clean and uncompromising style of the well-known architect is easy to identify if we take a look at objects designed for Kartell, Vitra or Hansgrohe.

The co-operation between Citterio and the German manufacturer Hansgrohe started in the 1990s when Philipp Grohe the Manager of the Axor line commissioned Citterio to design a line of products mirroring his architectural philosophy. Like we said, “Luxury at second glance” is the motto of Axor Citterio.

Transition from dreamtime to waketime
Formerly, the definition of the luxury was as follows: the objects that are the embodiment of luxury must be placed so that anybody can see them and these objects must be made of the most expensive materials in the most spectacular form. The modern person, just like Citterio, has redefined the philosophy of the luxury. Citterio says that the luxury actually lies in the fact that none other but their user can see these objects and that they interpret a design language which represent the luxurious only at the second glance, avoiding pretence as much as possible.

There are three characteristics of Citterio’s concept of space. One is segmentation: the bedroom and the bathroom representing relaxation and our everyday needs are separate from each other while still forming one single space. On the other hand, based on the above-mentioned it is very important to have transparency – the provision of open passages. The third characteristic can be called focus on material – meaning the emphasized use of the highest possible quality materials.

When defining the base of his design concept using the Axor Citterio taps, he is starting from viewing the available space as a whole. This concept is also defined by three major characteristics: the shining of the clean chromed surfaces, the “austerity” or coherence of the corners and angles and the need of harmony created by the use of curved surfaces and rounded shapes contrasting the corners.

Why are Axor Citterio taps so angular? It would be just to place this question. Antonio Citterio claims that angular and flat surfaces reflect light much more brilliantly making the tap resemble a bright diamond. “Using only angular elements would make the taps overly rigid, so at the places the tap-body is raised from the wall, nothing but round elements have been used” explains Antonio Citterio.

The shower is the most attractive point of the morning and so Citterio did not neglect the shower taps either. Transition from dreamtime to waketime – the designer is putting a special emphasis on the ritual character of the room. The compelling result of his efforts is Showerpipe, a wall-biult shower system giving your bathroom an unmistakable character.