FINGERPRINT OF NATURE


For some time now, Ludovica and Roberto Palomba have been rethinking and redesigning
the identity of the contemporary bathroom.

Their target is an original synthesis of spontaneity and beauty, technique and emotion,
aesthetics and functionality. From a formal point of view, the rediscovered appeal of
asymmetry, the ability to create geometric forms in which the rule of reason cohabits
with the spontaneity of Nature is striking. Variable-radius curves, virtual hollows like
irregularities in the surface.

But above all, it is in the rediscovered design of connections and combinations, highlighting
the meeting of the various parts, along the borders, in the breaks, that the shapes again find
a sense of volume, the very reasons for composing a continuous atmosphere, not a collection
of pure shapes, but a fl ow of various elements, words that fi nd their own sense in the
completed rhythm of a phrase.

The Palomba Collection is a true and unique evolution of pure geometry. As if the soft and
natural shapes could fi nally emerge, free of the primordial casing that imprisoned them.
Intense shapes, voids that the water abandons only to converge elsewhere, in hollows
excavated by thousands of years of erosion, or reminiscent of inlets or reefs. The Palomba
Collection recounts the age-old combat between liquids and solids, between void and matter.
The collection, which was first introduced in 2005, is to be expanded in 2007 by new basic
elements such as bathtubs, WCs and bidets and a range of new washbasins.
Ludovica+Roberto Palomba are this year delving into a new aspect, the relationship of the
forms and asymmetry found in nature. The natural balance is in fact based on the concept of
“togetherness”, the union of the several parts which, together, form a wonderful unity that
cannot be preordained. Such is the new challenge of the collection. Industrial production is
ever more approaching the natural world.

It might be somewhat simplistic to reduce the description of the washbasins, washbasin
bowls, bathtubs, shower trays and furniture of the Palomba Collection to that of a mere
bathroom range. Rather the Palomba Collection is a number of harmonising objects that
can be combined with one another or else with products of a similar design, each however
maintaining its individual character. Laufen has taken it upon itself to constantly broaden
the Palomba Collection with new designs. At the same time, however, any one product
can be replaced by another. “They come and go …”, that is how Ludovica + Roberto Palomba
describe this dynamic concept. As happens in fashion collections, the aim is to offer interior
designers and planners a vast range of up-to-date quality products. As true and proper
collectors, they can then mix’n’match the products, integrate them subsequently or replace
them with other pieces. This is thus a great opportunity that Laufen offers architects and
interior designers who plan modern bathrooms, free of any constraints and with complete
freedom of planning.

The asymmetric bath Finally, true freedom, as happens in nature where nothing is accidental
and everything follows the laws of life. Nature plays with difference, unifying and modifying.
Its plan is greater than the precision of the industrial world as is this proposal in which industry
bows to asymmetry, adapting its laws, abandoning its customs. From the asymmetric bath,
we merely draw its innovation, the unusual shapes that gently encompass us, as if we already
knew them. In the foreground are the two asymmetric washbasins placed on Palomba Collection
vanity units complete with long rectangular mirrors. Since the laws that regulate architecture are
natural laws, the rigour of the “box” emphasises and creates the binding element of this new
asymmetric collection. Behind that is the bathtub which is built into a high step that is also used
as a shelf or seat.

There is nothing like beginning the day in a dynamic and bustling city, full of encounters and
friends, working well with the sun shining in at the window, being aware that one belongs
to an elite and surrounding oneself with elegance and modernity. Returning home, to the
place where one can recharge his batteries for the following day, where even the bathroom
coddles with its domestic and personal furnishings.


Go to Designer Ludovica+Roberto Palomba >>


Technical productoverview

Washbasins
Toilets & Bidets
Bathtubs
Furniture