NM3 X LAUFEN at Alcova

At Salone del Mobile 2022, LAUFEN and Milan-based NM3 explore expressive forms of living. See how the exhibition and unique object received a Special Mention Fuorisalone Award at the event.

The long and intense dialogue that LAUFEN has established over the years with the world of design, architecture, and art has led to the collaboration with NM3 from Milan. What unites the two companies is the high quality of the products, the craftsmanship, the offer of bespoke solutions, and experimenting together with new expressive forms of living.

Following the successful exhibition at Salone del Mobile 2022 and after receiving a Special Mention Fuorisalone Award at the event, the new LAUFEN x NM3 collaboration was present  at  Vienna Design Week 2022. Since its conception, LAUFEN has always been at the forefront of innovation in the classical sense. Everything created at LAUFEN is done with meticulous precision and a careful eye for timeless and elevated design. Above all else, LAUFEN is in pursuit of creating objects and spaces that are here to stay. Thus, it was a natural progression to blend the Swiss appreciation for stability and form with the boldness and ingenuity of Italian design for the LAUFEN and NM3 cooperation. “This interdisciplinary collaboration with a young design trio of two architects Nicolò Ornaghi, Francesco Zorzi, and photographer Delfino Sisto Legnani – is for us at LAUFEN, the incentive to push boundaries and formulate new ideas,“ explains Global Marketing Director, Roger Furrer.

NM3 is a studio rich in the Italian tradition of design. Everything they create, from furniture to products, focuses on raw material and geometric rigor. Like LAUFEN, they share a deep appreciation for the past and future, including the Memphis design movement, which lightly influences their work. Together, for the Salone del Mobile, LAUFEN and NM3 conceived objects that were bent, folded, and screwed from a single variety of stainless steel. The pieces evoked a conversation around livable spaces and what they mean today, particularly bathrooms, and what they will mean tomorrow. “The bathroom is the most intimate space in our lives. That‘s why we have people from different fields of art, architecture, and design working together to show each other new ways and find surprising products and solutions. Thus, we at LAUFEN also see ourselves as curators for the wet room.“, Furrer elaborates. The objects were first displayed with Alcova – a beacon for craftsmanship and innovation. Alcova is a platform for designers and companies to investigate the future of living. During Salone del Mobile, Alcova brought together thought leaders and institutions to share ground-breaking work on living environments.

In the exhibition space, LAUFEN X NM3 presented two single, freestanding monoliths of steel that were placed side by side in front of an LED wall. There, a video installation was projected on the steel objects to create an imaginary dialogue between the images and the mirrored surfaces. The video installation was conceived by the Berlin-based filmmaker Marc Comes. In the video, audiences were invited to see an interpretation of movement, progression, and symbiosis through clips of water as pieces from the LAUFEN collection are stripped of their usual function and assembled into a fictional architectural space. It‘s a unique merging of the natural world and its counterpart. The entire space was permeated by sound, which reverberated through the large steel structures like a tremendous sound system.

Learn more about LAUFEN and NM3's unique installation and conversation around the future of design. It’s a true engagement of all the senses. For more details please visit https://www.justaddwater.laufen.com/