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It’s no secret that architects like to dip in and out of other design realms. Many like to take on smaller-scale projects in the worlds of industrial design, fashion and even stage design. Because the skills of sketching, plotting and planning are useful in any creative profession, architects can occasionally take a break from vast structures and focus on more tangible objects. Indeed, even the most basic kitchen and bathroom hardware can be emboldened with an architectural twist: All it takes is a daring idea and, sometimes, a smart collaboration.
In honor of the fact that not all faucets are created equal, here are five super-exclusive faucets crafted by today’s top architects and designers.
Image via coba – coba ganzo
Triflow Quadro Kitchen Tapby Zaha Hadid
The sculptural Avilion Triflow Tap by Zaha Hadid Design showcases the fluid forms of the late Iraqi-British architect’s famously voluptuous buildings. The curved faucet features a unique sweeping shape that encourages the seamless flow of water between tap and basin. It’s made of a brass core with a polished nickel and chrome finish and includes a separate waterway for purified water and touch-sensitive electronic controls. The faucet’s single lever is located at the tail of the design, effortlessly blending into the stealthy form.
Image via KALLISTA
Taper for KALLISTAby Bjarke Ingels
Bjarke Ingels introduced a series of sleek and minimal bathroom details as part of Kohler’s luxury Kallista brand. The collection features 14 pieces of fixtures and accessories including a one-piece faucet and accompanying handles that are finished in chrome, nickel silver and brushed nickel. Ingels designed the strikingly shaped faucet with a unique contour that causes the cone-like base to curve into a right angle reaching forward. The faucet’s simple yet playful design evokes an approachable and everyday quality much like Ingels’ communal living spaces.
Image via designboom
Axor Starck Organic Bathroom Faucet for Hansgroheby Philippe Starck
Famous French designer Philippe Starck collaborated with the German manufacturer Hansgrohe on his line for Axor, which features 40 innovative bathroom fixtures. His organic bathroom faucet, which was inspired by an outdoor farm tap, incorporates several sustainable water practices that make it an environmentally and economically friendly luxury item. It features two ergonomic and intuitive handles that separate the temperature control — located at the top of the mixer — from the water volume control at the bottom of the spout. The device produces a flow rate of 3.5 liters per minute through 90 individual outlets that spread water with maximum efficiency.
Starck also designed and developed the beautiful Axor Starck V mixer — a sculptural and transparent washbasin mixer that produces a swirling vortex of water right before the user’s eyes. It features an open spout made of an organic glass material that reveals that water as it lifts and flows right into the basin in a free-fall motion, all at a flow-rate of 4L per minute. The faucet comes with a lever or joystick handle.
Image via Dezeen
Ritual for AXOR by David Adjaye
British architect David Adjaye, principal of Adjaye Associates, also designed a signature faucet for AXOR under the direction of the brand’s WaterDream project, which called on lead designers to create unusual objects to challenge industry norms. Ritual features a tilted bronze spout in which a stream of flat water flows underneath a block of black granite inlay. The crisp design and resulting water flow give the faucet a natural and timeless elegance.
Image via Archiproducts
HIM for Zucchetti by Ludovica and Roberto Palomba
The Milan-based partners of Palomba Serafini Associati designed HIM for Italian company Zucchetti. Similar to Adjaye’s Ritual, HIM features a strong and lean geometry that produces a flat stream of water thanks to its cascade jet. The reflective faucet is made of chromed brass and is also available in rose gold. HIM includes a single lever that perches on top of the wide spout. Each HIM faucet contains Zucchetti’s patented concealed cartridge, which reduces the minimum volume of the mixer body, allowing for less material and water to be used.
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