On Tap
Neri&Hu sets the scene for
DORNBRACHT’s Vaia mixers.
Words
FLOOR KUITERT‘WE WANTED TO CREATE a hybrid between
a traditional and a contemporary style,’ says
Dornbracht brand director Holger Struck. He’s
speaking at the eighth edition of Dornbracht
Conversations, a platform that aims to encour-
age interaction and exchange among the dis-
ciplines of architecture, design and art. More
specifically, he’s talking about the birth of the
brand’s Vaia tap, which originated as a bridge
between the two styles he mentions. One clas-
sic and the other modern, they are already part
of Dornbracht’s portfolio. Conceived by Sieger
Design, Vaia can be described as ‘transitional’
or ‘eclectic’ – styles that represent a balanced
fusion of the established and the new.
In search of a way to visualize the
world of bathrooms some 20 years from now,
and to sustain its reputation as a progres-
sive brand, Dornbracht has asked a number
of creatives to think about the ‘culture’ they
envision in the bathroom of the future.
Among them are Lyndon Neri and RossanaHu (together Neri&Hu), who translated their
personal notion of the transitional style into
an architectural concept that would revolve
around Vaia. ‘Today, the bathroom functions
as a place of refuge,’ says Neri. ‘It’s considered
a destination. We made it a transitional space,
an in-between space.’ The result is demon-
strated in a series of images that depict an
environment that’s neither inside nor outside.
‘We imagined a fictional place, a house where
two characters are living: an introvert and an
extrovert. It’s an area that’s in constant transi-
tion, where dualities are dealt with recurrently.’
Featuring a pair of wall-mounted and
freestanding Vaia mixers, a washstand plays
a central role in the architecture. It functions
as a meeting place, a spot for communica-
tion. The base of the washstand evokes the
shape of Vaia’s cross-handles, which combine
geometric shapes and soft contours. The use
of contrasting forms and materials – marble,
concrete, bronze and gold – highlights themany applications of a tap that harmonizes
with a variety of bathroom designs. Dorn-
bracht’s collaboration with industry creatives
such as Neri&Hu in the development of inspi-
rational ideas for architects, interior designers
and planners is exactly what the company
wanted to achieve. ●
dornbracht.comA newly developed matte finish in dark
platinum accentuates the softly balanced
design language of Dornbracht’s Vaia series.To provide industry creatives with an
exciting challenge, Dornbracht asked
Neri&Hu to interpret the ‘transitional
style’ in images featuring Vaia.DORNBRACHT X FRAME 171