Designer Portrait Oliver Conrad: The Multitalented All-Rounder

06/14

Since 1995, Oliver Conrad and his team have been advising companies on the design of their products. His studio is based in Düsseldorf's Medienhafen, a creative hotspot in the harbour area. The historic head miller's house of a former mill was remodelled and extended on the basis of his design. "As a producer, you develop a different understanding of materials, quality, value and sustainability," explains Conrad.  

Oliver Conrad is a craftsman, architect, producer, entrepreneur and designer. The multitalented all-rounder is currently developing concepts that are intended to turn the once purely functional bathroom into a more emotional and prestigious part of the living space. 

Photo: Villeroy & Boch 

He has been working for the Mettlach-based Villeroy & Boch brand for some 14 years now. After several projects for the company's tableware division and the redesign of the entire shop-fitting system, Conrad developed City Life – his first bathroom furniture series for the brand – in 2003. It was followed by the Pure Stone, My Nature and Architectura collections, for which the designer and his team were also asked to develop the ceramic sanitaryware and fittings. 

 

"Nowadays bathrooms are concept-based spaces and reflect the furnishing style of the entire home," says the architect, emphasising the increasing importance of integrated concepts for the bathroom. The American is currently developing concepts that are intended to turn what was once a purely functional room into a more emotional and prestigious part of the living space.  

 

When it came to V&B's Architectura line of ceramic sanitaryware, Conrad's interdisciplinary experience as both architect and designer was a great advantage, because besides the creation and development of the ceramic items themselves, the needs of planners and architects had to be taken into consideration as well. The design of the vanity units is based on geometric shapes: circles, ovals and rectangles. The series provides planners with solutions for a wide range of different requirements. 

 

www.oliverconrad.com