When German bath manufacturer Duravit – who will celebrate its 200 year anniversary in 2017 – launched its United States division in 1996, product design had an anonymity problem. The period was sandwiched between an age made golden by greats like Charles and Ray Eames and a current era that abounds with everything from design art to mass-market collaborations. By making innovative ceramics and bathroom furniture — and making its creative talents an essential part of those products’ marketing, Duravit USA propelled Americans to recommit to design savvy. In honor of 20 years of consistent advocacy, we look back at the designers whom the company charged with moving the market as well as the conversation forward and their creations.
Happy D.2
1. Starck 1
Whether he is playing enfant terrible or hero of the people, Philippe Starck never fails to provoke and delight. The Starck 1 toilet, bathtub and washbasin comprising his first collaboration with Duravit embodied the Frenchman’s populism. While impressively rigorous, the collection’s forms are clearly descended from bucket, tub and washbowl to establish an emotional familiarity among consumers.
Starck 1
2. Starck 2
Starck 2 was conceived as a follow-up to Starck 1, and purity is the foremost theme of this response. Here, the designer takes minimalism to its natural conclusion by removing distractions from view; toilet fasteners have disappeared, for example. Yet he also distinguishes between purity and perfection, giving the washbasin the slightest oval shape to improve its functionality.
Starck 2
3. Starck 3
Starck continued exploring accessible minimalism with Starck 3. The collection is the most cost-effective of his three eponymous series. Starck 3’s myriad material and size options widen its appeal further.
Starck 3
4. Cape Cod
The historical references that often inform Starck’s design range from the universal (bucket and tub) to the site-specific, as in the case of his Cape Cod grouping of bath furnishings. Combinations of organic and man-made materials represent the casual, indoor-outdoor lifestyle of this Massachusetts vacationland.
Cape Cod
5. ME by Starck
With ME by Starck, the designer reprised searching for the universally applicable collection of bathroom products. It includes multiple ceramic models to accommodate all kinds of spaces. Style-wise, these options are united by a vision of simplicity to suit many different consumer personalities.
ME by Starck
6. Architec
German architect and designer Frank Huster takes seriously those things that others might dismiss as child’s play. His Architec product range from Duravit elevates the circle and square from fundamental building blocks to architecture in their own right. This meditation on the two universal shapes also includes rather specific solutions, such as an alcove bathtub for the North American market and a waterless urinal.
Architec
7. Darling New
The talents at sieger design represent multiple disciplines, and Darling New illustrates how the German studio coordinates those specialties in a commission.
Darling New
8. X-Large
With X-Large, sieger design took on the challenge of urban habitation by maximizing storage and organization in furnishings that fit even small city bathrooms.
X-Large
9. Happy D.2
Happy D.2 reconsiders the modern bathroom as an austere, necessary place. The successor to Duravit’s classic Happy D series, Happy D.2 reimagines hygienic spaces and furniture as inviting objects with rounded corners. The furniture pieces’ linen finish features a soft appearance and tactile feel as a counterpoint to white ceramic.
Happy D.2
10. Paiova
EOOS prides itself on idiosyncratic forms that upend the clean-lined expectations of product design. The Vienna-based design studio also aims to place these shapes within a long continuum of human history. What, then, could be a more fitting pairing of EOOS and Duravit than Paiova, which could very well appear as an ancient totem?
Paiova
11.Paiova 5
Paiova 5 expands upon EOOS’s previous success by giving this corner bathtub a near-freestanding feel. The sculptural effect of either version would not be possible without advanced acrylic technology that carves space from a monobloc. This refresh also features two different angles for lounging in the bath.
Paiova 5 (also shown at top)
12. OpenSpace and OpenSpace B
EOOS returned to the subject of urban bathing with OpenSpace. The shower enclosure mounts to a corner with two large glass doors that fold against the wall when not in use. Moving the structural frame to the bathroom walls minimizes intrusion to create a more commodious sense of space.
OpenSpace
13. Delos
OpenSpace revealed EOOS’s recurring interest in eliminating visual interruptions. Delos applies that concern to the interface between human and product by replacing handles and overlapping doors with tip-on drawer technology. The theme obviously resonates with Duravit, too, as it dates to Philippe Starck’s earliest work for the manufacturer.
Delos
14. PuraVida
Reinventing the wheel is more anomaly than everyday activity in the life of a product designer, so much so that Phoenix Design’s mission statement is devoted to evolutionary change in saturated markets. The German studio’s collection for Duravit proves that tweaks need not be imperceptible.
PuraVida
15. P3 Comforts
Push and pull at PuraVida’s flowing shapes and you arrive at Phoenix Design’s P3 Comforts. These asymmetrical compositions in which narrow rims meet broad plateaus create more functionality for the modern user. Namely, the products save space, provide storage and take cleanup into consideration.
P3 Comforts
16. 1930
Some standards naturally represent good design, like the 1930 collection. Duravit designed and began selling these pieces 66 years before the company arrived stateside, and their current popularity suggests that the more some things change, the more others should stay the same.
1930
17. Vero
Perhaps thanks to his deep fluency in two very different cultures, Swiss-Ghanaian designer Kurt Merki Jr. achieved a universally fascinating design language for the bathroom. His bold, precise rectilinear volumes in Vero express cutting-edge technology and absolute cleanliness — the perfect furniture complement to Duravit’s classic Vero ceramic collection.
Vero
18. DuraStyle
DuraStyle evokes the challenge that Philippe Starck undertook with ME by Starck: How can a product range feel at home in myriad environments, to appeal to consumers of all stripes? Whereas Starck answered that question with iconography, Italian firm Matteo Thun & Partners chose modesty as the means of melding with just about any taste.
DuraStyle
19. Ketho
If “democratic design” is overused, Duravit has spent the last two decades reclaiming the term’s authentic meaning. As illustrated by the new range of bathroom furniture designed by Christian Werner, the democratic bathroom product sports a comfortable modern appearance, thoughtful functionality and a price point that works with a first-time homeowner’s budget.
Ketho
20. L-Cube
L-Cube approaches the bathroom as a place for personality, giving users easy customization thanks to a range of “building block” furniture pieces. The clean, geometric vanities, cabinets and shelves are available in more than 30 finishes, from high gloss colors to classic woods. Designed by Christian Werner, L-Cube seamlessly fits into the bathroom to fit anyone’s age, space, budget and lifestyle.
© KUHNLE+KNOEDLER Fotodesign GmbH
L-Cube