In fact, for the Make It Yours! campaign, the Milan-based ‘gentleman of design conceived two very different sets, representing, we can assume, two very different movies. The star of both, however, remains the new collection. The collection is born of Citterio’s belief that “the object you touch with your hands should give you an idea of the luxury that water is.” To heighten the water experience, Citterio developed a special, textured surface as an option for the handles of the collection: “This is precisely to remind you of the idea of the preciousness of water. The texture is not an end in itself, but rather, serves to make people understand the use of a precious good, water.”

For one of these bathroom concepts, Antonio Citterio imagined a culture-themed penthouse in the Far East. While he leaves the precise location open, Citterio offers Thailand and Bali as places where the sunlight is intense and protection against it is key. His solution for such an environment is a space that, in his words, is “filtered by a semi-architectural envelope.” In developing the bathroom concept, Citterio drew inspiration from a now lost architectural masterpiece of his native Lombardy, the Casa sul Lago per l’Artista (House on the Lake for an Artist) by Giuseppe Terragni, a modernist architect. Imagined as a home for a painter and his family, and situated on an island of Lake Como, the design, which dates to 1933, is closed to the south and characterized by a glazed wall and a partially glazed ceiling to the north.

Citterio transposed this idea of a glass-bricked northernfacing wall and ceiling element, which gives “the perception of a connection with nature”, to his concept in the Far East. By eliminating direct sunlight while ensuring plentiful diffused light, Citterio, like Terragni, creates the ideal conditions for painting. But it doesn’t take an artist to appreciate the beauty of a light such as this, especially in a setting that has been designed with such attention to luxurious detail. Citterio and his team drew on their vast experience creating distinctive hotels around the world. “In a hotel, you have to create experiences, and this is really an experience bathroom,” Citterio explains, “an experience, but not necessarily for every day. It’s a scenography.”

One of the most striking features of the bathroom is the walls, clad floor to ceiling in precious Portoro, a marble prized for its intense black tone and golden honey-hued veins. Citterio balances the Portoro with sliding doors in teak and a shower area lined in opulent green marble. This rich palette is accentuated by a tub in travertine stone and a creamcolored terrazzo floor. Remarkably, the terrazzo of the floor rises upward to form a wash basin table, as well as the two wash basins. The overall effect is one of continuity across the main washing area, creating a unified backdrop for Axor Citterio C, which subtly stands out like a sophisticated jewel in Brushed Bronze, one of the exclusive Axor FinishPlus surfaces. At the bathtub, a freestanding bath faucet, complete with a slender hand-held shower, rises elegantly from the floor. The effect is echoed by the tall, single-lever faucets at either basin. To complete the “wow effect”, Citterio has conceived a mirrored paravent that performs the double role of hiding the toilet area, while showcasing the rich choice of elements—Portoro marble, green marble, warm teak and, of course, the Brushed Bronze finish of Axor Citterio C—in the washing area. Completing the selection of bathroom fixtures are an overhead shower, a shoulder shower, a hand-held shower, and a thermostatic mixer with shower controls. Artist or not, any guest would be delighted to indulge the senses in a bathroom such as this.