Jean-Marie Massaud for Axor
Axor Massaud, the new bathroom collection designed by Jean-Marie Massaud for Axor, has just launched in the UK.
Prototypes of the collection were shown in Milan two years ago and the range has recently gone into production.
Press info from Axor follows:
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Nature Inspired Design
Relaxation in harmony with the elements – Axor Massaud
London, May 2007. Axor, the designer brand from Hansgrohe AG, officially launches the new collection, Axor Massaud, together with French designer Jean-Marie Massaud at C.P. Hart in London. In collaboration with Axor (www.axor-design.com), he has designed a fascinating bathroom collection with which he retraces the path back to our beginnings. “We notice a growing need of urban people for the original relationship to nature"; says Philippe Grohe, head of the Axor brand, “for Jean-Marie Massaud, the person, his feelings, and his needs take centre stage. With his design and spatial concept he always searches for the elementary connection with what is natural. This is mirrored by the collection Axor Massaud." In this respect, Axor Massaud creates a harmonious connection between organic and geometric forms, between natural aesthetics and modern design. Axor Massaud doesn’t just symbolize a new language of design, it also exemplifies a new bathroom philosophy – a new view of the relationships between people, water, and space.
Symbiosis, emotion, and harmony – the design philosophy of Axor Massaud
Creating a symbiosis between man, nature and space is French designer Jean-Marie Massaud’s guiding tenet. Led by the substance and essence of nature, this basic idea is reflected in his design philosophy and spatial concepts.
“It’s my belief that design can arouse genuine feelings in people," says Jean-Marie Massaud. It is these feelings that he wants to appeal to with his design. But a person’s physical and emotional well-being will only be able to develop when he is in harmony with his surroundings. This is the reason Massaud always seeks the perfect balance between space and product. This balance can only be achieved when the objects in a room no longer appear as functional products but instead as ceremonial sculptures in which the technology isn’t the focus of attention.
Massaud uses objects’ beauty, emotionality, and association with nature to integrate them into his spatial concepts. In that way functional objects become ceremonial sculptures. This corresponds to our vision of giving a new sense of meaning to our living space bathroom, and giving shape to our emotions. “Let’s forget hygienists protheses, to find the natural symbiosis with water," states Jean-Marie Massaud. It's not that we need heaters, we need warmth. We don’t need lamps, we need light. And we don’t need plumbing fixtures, we need water! With Axor Massaud, the fixtures become unique sculptures dispossessed of technology, connecting us to one of the most important and fundamental of all elements: with water, the source of all life.
The bathroom as a living space
Our modern world is missing the relationship to what is natural. This explains the growing human need for harmony and a life consistent with nature. Axor Massaud gives back the true dimension of our natural relationship with the element of water. In Massaud’s spatial concept, the simplicity and beauty of what is natural is transported into a household environment – the bathroom. In this room, a person can find himself, can turn his back on daily routine, and can relax in complete harmony with the elements. The bathroom becomes a living space, and its purpose is not just hygiene and mere bodily cleansing but the sensual, emotional experience of the element of water.
The products
With their elegance and emotionality, the fixtures and accessories from Axor Massaud truly fit into this concept of the bathroom as a living space. Organic lines inspired by nature are brought into harmonic rapport with geometric forms. There are softly curving lines here, the natural fall of the water there. And between these is the clear geometry and cleverly concealed technology. An asymmetrically arranged and generously sized storage surface crowns the nearly 400mm-wide single-lever basin mixer. A broad torrent of water pours out from this into the basin. The slim base unit of the mixer is reminiscent of a stem growing upwards into a slight curve, similar to the bend of a blade of grass. As always with Axor, the Massaud collection also includes an abundance of components and accessories that have been coordinated with each other, from washbasin mixers to bathtub fittings, from soap baskets to a floor stand towel rack in the shape of a small tree. A moulded mineral washbowl also belongs to the collection. This ensures that the design of the bathroom environment is tailored to individual needs and ideas.
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The high-end brand Axor, member of the Hansgrohe Group, is known as the byword for design and quality in the exclusive bathroom. With a large number of independent and extensive collections that were developed together with internationally renowned architects and designers such as Antonio Citterio (Milan, Hamburg), Philippe Starck (Paris, London) or Phoenix Design (Stuttgart & Tokyo), Axor opens up broad vistas of design for a large variety of individualized bathroom solutions and spatial visions. Philippe Grohe (39), grandson of the company founder Hans Grohe, is the head of the Axor brand.
Individual Axor Massaud products:
Vanity/Sink:
Single-lever washbasin mixer
Single-lever washbasin mixer for wash bowls
3-hole washbasin mixer
3-hole washbasin mixer, wall mounted version
Bidet:
Single-lever bidet mixer
3-hole bidet mixer
Bathtub:
Single-lever bath tub mixer, floorstanding version
4-hole bath tub mixer for rim mounted version
4-hole bath tub mixer for mounting on tile
Concealed tub filler
Tub filler
Shower:
Concealed shower tap
Thermostats:
Concealed thermostat (with shutoff or shutoff/selector)
Accessories:
Wide range of accessories
Finish:
Chrome
Design:
Jean-Marie Massaud, Paris
Design awards:
iF Product Design Award 2006 for Single-lever washbasin mixer for wash bowls and 3-hole washbasin mixer
Available from:
Bathroom specialists