Marcel Wanders: The New Classic

The Swiss bathroom design brand Laufen collaborated with Marcel Wanders for a project that reinvents the classic dimension. The New Classic is versatile, contains variegated concepts of classic style, in which bohemian taste blends perfectly with cosmopolitan and metropolitan image, suggesting an eclectic lifestyle. A reinterpretation of classic styles in a contemporary guise for an elegant and very timely collection. TLmag took the time to speak to Marcel Wanders about this unique project.

TLmag: This is not the first time you’ve joined forces with Laufen, what made you rejoin the collaboration?

Marcel Wanders (MW): Laufen is known the world over for its excellence in generating ideas to create the classic and contemporary bathroom. For several decades now, the company has reached out to designers who share their passion for quality and contemporary design. We align well with their values, and we saw an opportunity to create an elegant and captivating bathroom collection. We saw this as an opportunity to sculpt a poetic experience for a very intimate space.

TLmag: How would you describe the series created with Laufen? What is its narrative?

MW: The bathroom setting will always be about pampered and elegant functionality. The design of this versatile concept of classic style, in which bohemian taste blends perfectly with cosmopolitan and metropolitan image plays a crucial role in making the connection with the human spirit. We created stylish washbasins, bathtubs, toilets, faucets, cabinets, and accessories. The collection is centered on the implementation of a touch of humanity. The ceramic white pieces are joined by counters and cabinets in wood, legs, metal faucets and mirrors with ceramic frames. With this set, we give rise to an extremely evocative and delicate bath environment.

TLmag: A lot of your designs draw on classical forms. How would you describe this recurrence, is it perhaps connected to nostalgia or reminiscing?

MW: I believe this occurs, at times, because we design our pieces to allow people to create a meaningful connection. To do this, we continually find ways for our design to resonate on a human level. That means our concepts and forms tap into humanism, an emotion we all feel understand and share. Classical forms recur because the truth that they embody never changes. There is something universal in what we design and everyone can connect with what it means to them.

TLmag: Looking at this THE NEW CLASSIC series created with Laufen, do you have a specific favorite piece? Could you elaborate?

MW: To me, no single piece stands out. And that is the point of this collection. That is, to give each piece its own identity but only so much as to give it a role in the ensemble. In a way, this collection is a reinterpretation of classic styles in a contemporary guise. And more than working together as a set, this collection expresses a juxtaposing nature, mixing and matching design elements that work together and work in relation those who experience it – in fact, making them part of the collection as well.