An Act of Renewal
Stefano Giovannoni has re-imangined Laufen’s Ilbagnoalessi bathroom set (image: Laufen).
Although their images tend to stay fixed in our minds, many iconic products from across the design industry are in a continuous process of refinement. The drive towards sustainability, demands of the market, material and manufacturing advancements, and even the changing dimensions of the human body, are all reasons why a popular design piece may find itself ripe for an upgrade. This sensitive work must be finely balanced between designer and producer – a process of making tweaks and upgrades without losing the soul of the original design.
The exciting possibilities of a new material has prompted Swiss bathroom specialist Laufen and Italian designer Stefano Giovannoni to revisit their popular Ilbagnoalessi collection from 2002. This smooth-flowing sculptural set of designs suggested a new formal language for bathrooms when it debuted, also presenting a pioneering technical achievement. “The Tam Tam washbasin was the first to be made in a single free-standing block,” explains Giovannoni. “The toilet the first to be a pure form where the lid is in continuity with the oval volume of the ceramic, and Tuna the first washbasin in which the bowl rises in continuity with the countertop. These products are milestones in the history of the bathroom.”
The Tuna washbasin is made from Laufen’s award-winning Saphirkeramik.
Twenty years later, new designs in Saphirkeramik have been added to the collection. The innovative material, developed by Laufen, is light, hard, robust and malleable. “Unlike the ceramic used for traditional sanitaryware, it allows us to create very thin walls that give the object elegance and lightness,” says Giovannoni. The tapering Tuna washbasin has particularly benefitted from the new material, the result of its contoured lines and tight radii having been accentuated and refined given Saphirkeramik’s technical performance. The whole collection has been given a refreshed palette of colours and finishes to reflect a trend for bolder bathroom designs. The furniture that complements the sanitaryware and incorporates technology has also been updated, including Frame, a new modular lighting system. “This is the way to bring the collection into a new generation,” says Alain Reymond, Laufen’s head of design management. “Complementing existing elements with new ones without cannibalisation. Every object has its legitimate place.”
The revisited collection presents an evolution of Ilbagnoalessi, rather than a redesign. Although Reymond says that Saphirkeramik allows designers the “freedom to experiment”, creative licence has been reined in and applied only where it makes a significant difference to the collection’s overall quality of manufacture. Respecting the original pieces and the overall design philosophy made for a programme of fine tuning rather than radical departures. Preserving Ilbagnoalessi ’s status within the field was important commercially too. “In a saturated context where products often differ for small details, these iconic pieces stand out for their originality,” Giovannoni says. “Even today they remain a reference that’s immediately perceived.”
Freestanding blocks form the Tam Tam washbasins.
Acts of renewal rarely get the fanfare that new launches do, but priorities are changing. When Saphirkeramik was awarded the Swiss Design Prize in 2017/18, the material was praised for its reduction of resources, energy use and transport it offers compared with traditional ceramic production. Ilbagnoalessi ’s external changes are minimal, but the new material has also allowed for slimmed down and simplified internal walls and structures that will have a real impact at the industrial scale. While it’s not possible for every iconic product to be revisited, a responsible producer always seeks room for improvement. “A successful update is something that has proven itself on the market but can be better adapted, formally or technically,” says Reymond. “Ilbagnoalessi has proven itself for years and is always appreciated, even in its new guise.”
Words Riya Patel
This article was made for Laufen.