VitrA launched “Istanbul”, its newest bathroom collection by world famous designer Ross Lovegrove, at a gala in London on 22 September 2005.
Attending the gala launch, which coincided with Fashion Week and 100%Design, were architects, interior decorators and designers from all over the world, as well as large VitrA customers and executives from Eczacıbaşı and VitrA.
Designed to provide fully coordinated interiors with maximum flexibility for the consumer., the collection offers ceramic sanitary ware,ceramic wall and floor tiles, bathtubs, bathroom furniture, faucets and accessories.
The geometric designs on the ceramic tiles, bathtub panels and toilet seats create an aesthetic harmony in the bathroom. The sculptured look of the freestanding washbasin are proof of both the designer’s genius and the production expertise and technology of VitrA.
Inspired by the flow, liquidity and emotional properties of water, “İstanbul” is based on the concept of a seamless wet space, where individual elements are drawn out of the surfaces, all white, liquid and viscous.
Speaking at the launch, Eczacıbaşı Holding Chairman Bülent Eczacıbaşı noted that VitrA was present in more than 50 countries, operated the world’s largest ceramic sanitary ware plant and had a product range that encompassed every aspect of the bathroom. “With all of the infrastructure required to support a “design company” in place,” he said, “we decided to boost VitrA’s standing in international markets with a completely new design concept. So we started collaborating with Ross Lovegrove. A year passed; Ross created ‘Istanbul’ and VitrA produced it.”
He added, “Last week, İstanbul Modern, the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, inaugurated a new exhibition entitled ‘Centre of Gravity’. The exhibition is curated by Rosa Martinez, whom you all know very well. One of the things Rosa is trying to say with her concept is that Istanbul has also become a centre of gravity. Well, I think Ross’s ‘Istanbul’ is entitled to become a centre of gravity in world markets as well.”
Stressing that Ross Lovegrove had created a timeless collection that incorporated the best of Turkey’s unique bathroom culture and reinterpreted this in a way he never would have imagined, Bülent Eczacıbaşı declared, ”’İstanbul’ is a work of art and I have no doubt that parts of it will soon find their way, like other Ross creations, into the displays of the world’s leading art museums.”
Lovegrove said he was excited to be collaborating with VitrA on this project, which represented his first experience with both a Turkish firm and a bathroom design. “For me, as a designer, this project has created a rare and wonderful opportunity to work with an industry leader that has the industrial authority to realize the full scope of products from tiles to baths to faucets to furniture all under one organization.”
When visiting Istanbul, VitrA’s physical and spiritual home, Lovegrove immersed himself in the Turkish ceramic culture and drew inspiration from ethnicity, architecture and custom to bring an additional perspective. He studied Ottoman geometries and calligraphy, which are graphic and yet liquid, organic and highly sensual. These two-dimensional applications were morphed to create surface patterns for printed products and for milling panels and screens, and the Istanbul collection was born. Ceramics were used extensively as they can be precisely slip-cast while still allowing the unique organic forms that typify Lovegrove’s work.
Ross Lovegrove’s collection drew inspiration from the city of İstanbul, which he calls a living museum of cultures. The İstanbul Collection is a modern and technological interpretation of Turkish bathroom culture that will reinforce VitrA’s standing as a global brand and contribute to Turkey’s image in international markets.
