Hasta La Ideas

We thought the PermaFLOW transparent sink trap was a pretty brilliant innovation, allowing you to see and clear those pesky under-basin clogs. But from Philippe Starck by way of Hansgrohe comes the Axor Starck V, which brings transparency up where we can see it. Starck calls it “a mixer that represents the absolute minimum: totally transparent, almost invisible, and enclosing a miracle that is the vortex.”

While the impetus for the design—reportedly five years in the making—is poetic…

With the beauty and dynamism of its vortex, the mixer bridges the gap between the functional and emotional aspects of water at the washbasin, transforming it from a basic commodity to a valuable resource.

…Besides serving the technical function of making water visible, transparency aesthetically fuses the mixer body with its surroundings, thus, in essence de- materializing it. The openly designed spout contributes to the natural water experience: before the eyes of the user, the upward, swirling motion of water through the mixer’s body and its “free-fall” into the washbasin trigger a feeling of joy and happiness.

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