Bathroom Designs by Antonio Lupi
10 December 2009
“On Earth As It Is In Heaven”
There is just something extraordinarily clean and sensual about a bathroom vanity in clear glass. I’m not sure if the sensual aspect of it, for me at least, is because of the wonderful look or the, by necessity, absolute lack of clutter that must accompany such an architectural statement, if that’s not too bold a description for a concept as, well, as bold as this one is.
Antonio Lupi is an Italian manufacturer-no, let’s call him what he truly is, an Italian artist who has chosen bathroom designs as his favored medium in which to work. Or as Mr. Lupi himself put it, “Our mission is to produce top end bathrooms – furniture, mirrors, accessories, sanitary ware, washbasins, bathtubs, taps, shower trays and enclosures-designing and creating according to functionality and the evocative and symbolic criteria.”
Mr. Lupi began his company in 1950 as a glass laboratory, which was soon transformed into a world class company through the artistic vision and persistence of Mr. Lupi, special emphasis on the artistic vision. There is something about his designs in particular, and the designs of Italy in general, that made the transformation from small to large pretty much inevitable.
What caught my eye when I was on my weekly Internet search for material was the glass vanity we’ve featured at the top of this blog, but like all Italian designers, Mr. Lupi is certainly not relegated to only one or two ideas, regardless of how brilliant they may be. To make our point, we’ve also featured another of his sinks, which, to me, is both elemental and extraordinary, because of what has been done with such simple lines.
The other part of these designs, especially the glass vanity that inspired this blog, is their small size. The glass vanity is just 21″ deep and 50″ to 71″ wide, which would fit into a great many of the smaller bathrooms that are the lot of so many of us. But small does not mean thin, highly breakable glass. The clear glass top is a full 3/4″ thick and has an integrated glass sink in its center, so it is at once both strong and stylish.
The other thing I particularly like about it is the way there is plenty of storage space, even though it appears, at first glance, as though there is none. Behind the two drawers at the bottom of the vanity are all the storage space a body would need, or at least all that I would need. Toothbrush and a razor pretty much does it for me. Bald as I am, I don’t even need a comb anymore!
But the glass and the brushed stainless steel and the purity of the designs themselves. it’s neat, it’s trim, it’s all together, it’s tidy. Man, what a concept! It would have to be a slice of heaven on earth, ’cause God ain’t doing no clutter now!
Joseph
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One Response to “Bathroom Designs by Antonio Lupi”
December 10th, 2009 at 8:32 PM
Nice design, but I would not want it unless I had a live-in maid. That would be painful to keep clean.
Joe