Avant-garde bath design or a functional piece of art? It's both.
We see a lot of beauty in this business but our jaws dropped when we saw AXOR’s new Edge collection. It’s the company’s second venture with French designer Jean-Marie Massaud, who is perhaps best know for his furniture designs with Italian manufacturers Poliform and Poltrona Frau. “With this collection, AXOR Edge, we explore the world of extreme refinement,” says Massaud. “To accomplish a project at this level of demand, resources and even trust—the trust to develop a brand new machinery, precise to one micron—you can only work with a unique partner like AXOR,” he adds.
“In France, we had a big cultural tradition of arts décoratifs, where architects would work with a lot of super-refined craftsmen and sculptors to, for example, create the pattern of a façade. And we thought, OK, AXOR is a top brand. Let’s explore some processes to produce a faucet that’s not just die-casting and polishing—it’s making sculpture!”
“We are at the level of horlogerie de luxe… of handmade, special projects.”
Massaud based his design for Edge on the cube, ultimately creating an astonishingly meticulous and sculptural series of bath, sink and shower fixtures. Each piece is architectural in construction, melding mirror-like planes of brass with meticulously detailed, precision-cut surfaces that give a tactile feel and an almost “two-tone” look. If you’d prefer an entirely smooth version of the design, that’s an option, too. The collection is comprised of two-dozen products, including sink, bath and bidet mixers, and shower systems, and is available in four finishes: rose gold, bronze, gold and black chrome.
In addition to single-lever basin taps in three different heights, the AXOR Edge bathroom collection also features a three-hole tap, a tap for wall mounting and a floor-standing tap for wash bowls. Bath mixers include a floor-standing design and a three-hole, rim-mounted bath mixer with hand shower.
The Toulouse-born designer, Jean-Marie Massaud, in his trademark whites.
“Luxury for me is quality and competence, of course. But in luxury, there is another layer of added value. It’s a layer of culture, of legacy, transposed in a contemporary world. It’s another dimension—one that is not necessary, maybe, but that transmits a culture”
Want to Know More?
Check out AXOR’s recent Q&A with Massaud or watch the video interview below.
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