23 September 2011

Cersaie 2011: Part 2

Nicky Lobo, in Bologna, Italy for the Cersaie fair, brings us her second round of top picks.

Cersaie, Bologna
Wednesday 21 September

Vola Round Series
Bathroom waste has never looked so good. This waste bin and paper tissue dispenser for commercial and high-end residential projects translates Vola's classic, clean circular geometry into new dimensions. Modular elements such as open/close and refill mechanisms complete the logic of these built-in units, which can easily be retro-fitted (plus the Vola website offers handy easy videos to demonstrate to installers).

About Water
A new company and a new collaboration between two big Italian names: Fantini and Boffi. This new tapware has the potential to become the new icon, with beautiful shapes and forms designed by Naoto Fukasawa and Piero Lissoni. The flagship range is simple, almost to the point of being conceptual, and is available in polished, varnished and satin chrome – this is definitely a brand to watch.

Progressive Cartridge operation
We discovered some taps this year (including by Above Water) which operate on 'progressive cartridges', meaning that the only variable to be adjusted is the temperature, while flow or water pressure remains constant. This energy- and money-saving strategy is worth thinking about, especially for hand basins (we still think there's a place for pressure adjustment in showers though, to cater for both gentle and harder streams).

Kengo Kuma
We heard the great Japanese architect speak about 'Architecture of Place' in the Galleria dell'Architettura, one of a series of high-profile speakers to be presenting at Cersaie 2011. This was a good one to catch. Kuma showed slides of some of his projects that best demonstrated his sensitivity to place and context – both geographical and historical. Of the Bato-machi Hiroshige Museum he said, "Traditionally the mountain village was strongly connected to and supported by the mountain. But they forgot." His strategy to reconnect people to this ancient experience through architecture was to place the axes of the intersecting buildings to force a view of the mountain. A gently ingenious approach.

EX.T
A repeated offender on our most-loved lists, this young group released 10 new collections by up and coming designers. As always, we think these pieces of bathroom furniture are worthy for their ability to add colour and personality, while the warm balance of natural materials such as metal, ceramics and timber makes them an easy fit into pretty much any bathroom space – as well as other spaces in the home.