Saturday, 4 February 2006 | Senay
VitrA's Istanbul Collection Wins Wallpaper Magazine's
Prestigious "Best Bathroom" Design Award
Wallpaper Magazine, considered by many to be an école in the design world, has selected the Istanbul Collection designed by Ross Lovegrove for VitrA for its "Best Bathroom" design award. In announcing its decision, Wallpaper said that the collection was "the most ambitious bathroom range of the year".
The annual Wallpaper Design Awards, which are judged by the writers of the highly regarded design magazine as well as by well-known guest judges, are considered to be among the most prestigious in the design industry. This year's guest judges were curator Iwona Balzwick, architect Norman Foster, industrial designer Konstantin Grcic, fashion designer Donna Karan, retail guru Murray Moss, and photographer Mario Testino. Other award winners this year were Miami (Best City), Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Seat (Most Life-Enhancing Item) and Apple's i-Pod Mini (Best Gadget).
Istanbul Collection
VitrA works with an extensive range of international designers who contribute very year to new bathroom concepts, and Ross Lovegrove, chosen by VitrA for his ability to combine organic forms with sophisticated technology and materials, is the latest high-profile collaboration.
While creating the Istanbul collection, Lovegrove immersed himself in Turkish ceramic culture and drew inspiration from ethnicity, architecture and custom to bring an additional perspective. He studied Ottoman geometries and calligraphy, which are graphic and yet liquid, organic and highly sensual. These two-dimensional applications were morphed to create surface patterns for printed products and for milling panels and screens, and the Istanbul collection was born. Ceramics were used extensively as they can be precisely slip-cast while still allowing the unique organic forms that typify Lovegrove's work.
The geometric designs on the ceramic tiles, bathtub panels and toilet seats create an aesthetic harmony in the bathroom. The sculptured look of the freestanding washbasin are proof of both the designer's genius and the production expertise and technology of VitrA.
Designed to provide fully coordinated interiors with maximum flexibility for the consumer, the Istanbul Collection offers more than 100 products, including ceramic sanitary ware units, ceramic wall and floor tiles, bathtubs, bathroom furniture, faucets and accessories. Inspired by the flow, liquidity and emotional properties of water, "Istanbul" is based on the concept of a seamless wet space, where individual elements are drawn out of the surfaces, all white, liquid and viscous.
For more information : http://www.vitra-bathrooms.com/
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