Water united the “rock star” Philippe Starck and the firm AXOR 30 years ago. Together they created an iconic faucet that is a bestseller. They aspire to repeat with their new releases.
It has an impressive list of more than 10,000 patents to its credit. The French Philippe Starck (Paris, January 18, 1949) unequivocally responds to the profile of a total designer. He has designed everything: buildings, boats (including an 80-meter-long yacht for Steve Jobs), motorcycles, perfumes, dishes, radios, clocks, tables, dishes, lamps, an impossible juicer, prefabricated houses, mobile phones, suitcases, toothbrushes, hotels, stationery, Olympic medals, restaurants, the interior of the housing module of an international space station and even exhibitions, such as the one dedicated to Alessandro Mendini that he conceived for the Milan Triennale.
His overflowing creativity leads him to live like a monk. “I go to bed at 9:30 and get up at 6 in the morning. I work in a cave without stopping and without talking,” he reveals, sitting in a Louis Ghost, his interpretation of a Louis XV chair in transparent plastic that designed for Kartell in 2002.
Although his career began in the late 60s, he established himself in the 80s, when the then president, the socialist François Mitterrand, commissioned him to renovate his official residence in the Elysee Palace. Today is the great rock star design, although he likes to live away from everything. For a few years he found refuge in Formentera, where he built his house.
Three decades have passed since he met the German Klaus Grohe, son of the founder of the Hansgrohe company, on the island, who signed him to collaborate with AXOR, the company’s most luxurious brand. “I met Klaus one day in August when it was very hot. I was on the terrace of my house and I saw a man riding a bicycle and he called me. ‘Can we talk?’ he said. ‘I have a company and we make faucets.’ ‘I offered him a glass of water and he asked me if I wanted to work with him. I thought it was a great idea and I started designing directly at the kitchen table in my house with him. From the beginning the relationship with AXOR was almost family. “If you want to have beautiful children, parents must be in love and if you want to create timeless products, you need elegance in the working relationship.”
Starck and the sense of humor
Perennial humor is part of the endless production of the Frenchman who says he does not follow trends, which he has often set with his groundbreaking spirit. He claims to find good ideas helped by changes in temperature. “Take a hot bath and quickly move on to cold water.. He dilates his brain and in five seconds I feel the idea. Steve Jobs said he did the same thing,” points out this creative mind always protected by the figure of his wife Jasmine Abdellatif, who during the meeting is attentive to the conversation and ensures that during the torrent of words her husband launches no projects are revealed. before time. He adorns his arm, just like Starck, with a tattoo of dots that symbolize each year they have been together.
As a result of that first meeting between the Parisian and the German businessman on the Balearic island, a cooperation began that has revolutionized the design of bathrooms, converted into temples of well-being. “With AXOR I share a deep love for water. We come from water; We are made of water and we need it. I have an atomic relationship with the element and am always saddened when this vital treasure is treated badly. That’s why I wanted to work for its respect and conservation.”
The iconic faucet by Starck and AXOR
In 1994 AXOR and Starck launched the first collection, whose lines were inspired by historical pumps for public water fountains. Now a classic, it tells the story of simplicity and reduces faucets to their essence: two tubes and a handle. joystick. Throughout these three decades they have surprised with creations such as Starck V, a transparent design that allows you to see the swirling movements of the water and understand the elegance and complexity of this natural element. “It was a seven-year job, quite a challenge,” says the Frenchman, who has recently devised the Shower Composition column made up of different modules with ultra-thin profiles that adapt to individual requirements, such as a cervical shower with an adjustable angle.
It has also just presented the Suite bathtub, with a timeless and universal design, made with pure acrylic resin that, in addition to being resistant, repels dirt. It thus fulfills Starck’s motto: create for eternity. “It doesn’t matter the object. I always work with the same energy. It starts with something that is clear to me, which is: when you are born, you sign a contract with the community and you have an obligation. Mine is to serve, I don’t do anything else and I do it.” I do the best way I know how, because I know that I can’t save lives, but I can help them be better,” says Starck, who at 75 years old still maintains the curiosity of a child.
