interviews

Interview with Andrea Wirges-Klein:
“The sanitaryware is like an instrument in an orchestra.”

05/12

The work of architect Andrea Wirges-Klein (born in 1963) stands for what springs to mind when you think of holistic architecture: she plans and supervises new buildings that are progressive yet liveable, modernises context-sensitive existing buildings, refurbishes and redesigns listed buildings and provides advice and support for both private clients and public projects.

Heading towards individual living space

05/12

What should a bathroom look like? The standard array of shower or tub, toilet and basin, a mirror above it and maybe a little cupboard over there... all in a nice straight line up against the wall? That’s all in the past. But the bathroom’s shift in meaning, away from pure practicality and towards more ambience and cosiness, still has to find suitable forms of expression.

Easy Living: Unrestricted Aethetics for the Bathroom

05/12

Obviously not everybody has a castle at their disposal where the various generations of the family can get together; but that isn’t actually that important anyway. The main thing is that both young and old feel at ease in the room which, for a growing number of people, is becoming the basic prerequisite for a self-determined life – the bathroom.

Interview Jans Wischmann:
“Hey! I need this room!”

05/12

On the occasion of the ISH in Frankfurt, the world’s leading fair for the entire sanitation, heating and air-conditioning sector, Jens J. Wischmann, managing director of the VDS, explains the revolutionary ideas behind the pictures and headings of the new “Pop up my Bathroom” campaign.

Individuality as an agenda

05/12

When it comes to form, there are many ways to interpret water: it can flow in a purist surge from a fitting that has been reduced to nothing but a surface, gush thickly or vivaciously out of arching taps into water troughs, filigree bowls or flat, minimalist basins. Design trends in the bathroom will be the focal point of interest at the ISH. Perhaps more than any other room, the bathroom is proving to be a place that reflects an abundance of external influences from society, design and ecology.

Urban Living: Welcome to the Bath Zone

05/12

Life in the city, right in the thick of it. Different people and cultures live side by side, with different daily rhythms, different music, different family structures. Even the architecture itself is a reflection of this diversity: closely spaced rows of houses and obstructed views alternate with open squares and expansive vistas, stone rubs shoulders with greenery, little terraced houses stand shoulder to shoulder with tower buildings. A place for individualists.

Interview Andreas Dornbracht - Part 2:
"As for construction architects, we need to trigger a shift in attitude."

05/12

In the first Part of the interview, Andreas Dornbracht, president of the German Sanitary Industry Association (Vereinigung Deutsche Sanitärwirtschaft e.V., VDS), has talked about demographic issues of the bathroom. The second part is devoted to architectural solutions and room concepts.

Product ideas: Digitisation

05/12

The ISH 2011 is coming up trumps with innovations that are sparking consumer demand for the sex appeal of electronic fittings which permit touch-free operation or convenient adjustment of showers and other equipment features at the push of a button. Rarely has the sanitary sector seen the kind of innovation wave that is now helping electronic products conquer the private sector.

interviews

Interview with Thilo Dreyer:
“The first step towards a holistic design is listening.”

05/12

Listening to Thilo Dreyer, you soon realise what constitutes a good bathroom designer and sanitary expert: a passion for the bathroom as living space that has been precisely geared towards the customer’s needs.

Special Feature: Bathroom Design
Planning for Happiness

05/12

The disappearance of spatial boundaries and walls, the new sense of snugness and the desire for more nature in the bathroom are resulting in a host of new possibilities for bathroom design. Today, anybody who wants a contemporary and future-viable bathroom needs more than a floor plan – he needs a concept. A professional bathroom designer can help ask the right questions and pave the way to personal bathroom bliss.