15 Sep Eidos bathroom
After the preview in April, the Eidos bathroom collection has finally been unveiled.
The line designed by Kensaku Oshiro was introduced during the 2021 Design Week in Milan, at the Listone Giordano Arena; the result is a complete bathroom that is at the same time welcoming and totemic.
Eidos is the result of a collaboration between Vaselli and Oshiro which has lasted over two years, summing up the careful preparation and research done with the designer in the search of a new shape, becoming totally immersed in the reality of the Rapolano area and its travertine stone.
The Eidos concept means not just innovation in design and manufacturing: it is also a symbol of the meeting of distant cultures, sculpted in travertine.
“Eidos is not a change of direction but a branching out, a broadening of the path itself and of our vision. An intersection that has become the meeting point of two journeys from distant places. Ours, from Rapolano Terme, rooted in its travertine quarries, and Kensaku’s, who is more at home in the warmth of wood, which originated in Japan.“
Vaselli
The unusual softness of the lines that shape Eidos is an expression of Kensaku Oshiro’s intent to let the alternating three-dimensional play of light and shadow outline the volumes, drawing shapes that are not limited to the function of the elements, always guided by deep respect deriving from the awareness of working with an ancient material such as stone.
“We often forget how long it takes for nature to form its materials, and in particular stone, which has continued its slow growth for thousands of years.
Therefore, designing an object in stone means dealing with something that is “wiser” than us; so it has to be an ethical act full of awareness and respect.
I believe that the possibility of “shaping time” is an incredible opportunity.“
Kensaku Oshiro
For Vaselli, apart from the discovery of new shapes, Eidos is a new production challenge, setting new limits for lightness and minimal thickness values in the processing of solid stone.
Having become familiar with Vaselli’s production techniques and grasping the importance of the processes for decreasing weight, the designer was able to reverse the basic concept, transforming a process that was usually hidden within a distinctive and functional element, bringing to light the empty spaces carved out of the blocks of stone.
More specifically, the Eidos bathroom collection includes furnishing solutions for the whole bathroom, with all its elements carved from single blocks of stone. The freestanding washbasin can go together with the shelf and wall-mounted mirror; they are mounted onto a plastered wall or on full-height stone slat facing. With an approach more similar to what is done on wood, the result successfully enhances the solid stone material, thanks to the beveling on the sides, which creates a gentle movement of light and shadow on the surface. The facing is also available with a built-in mirror.
Another protagonist is the totemic bath unit. It consists of an ofuro-style bathtub with a step and a shelf.
The perfect background for this is the revolutionary lightweight travertine screen, where stone discovers a new lightness.
Along with the ever-present slatted shower tray, which recalls the bevels of the facing, the bathroom is completed by the iconic open furniture, of varying heights and widths, where the processing of the stone block is emphasized by the bold design of Kensaku Oshiro, with lines created by the edges of the elements that continue uninterruptedly through the three dimensions.
This experiment on solid stone makes the research and preparation work done with Ken not an innovation as an end in itself, or the simple search for novelty: it is a process of development closely tied to the roots and nature of Vaselli, which is fully identified with the processing of the stone block.
Eidos, like all of Vaselli’s lines, is an open concept that goes beyond the collection. As well as expanding its bathroom proposal with closed furniture and supported washbasins, it is created to cover all the areas in the house, indoors and outdoors, giving complete freedom to designers and design enthusiasts.
“Eidos is “form”.
It is a form that describes the time, spatiality and authenticity of the stone.“
Kensaku Oshiro