Axor gives exciting touch to new mixer

Axor Starck V single lever.

AXOR, the designer brand of Hansgrohe, has introduced its first transparent mixer – Axor Starck V – which has been created in collaboration with Philippe Starck.

“The vortex phenomenon has occupied my father Klaus Grohe for several years,” explains Philippe Grohe, head of Axor. “His intuition, that water could visibly be brought to the foreground through the vortex, was the starting point in the development of Axor Starck V. In Philippe Starck, we not only found the perfect design partner to create a shape around the vortex, but also a valuable sparring partner in the developmental process.”

“The result is a mixer that represents the absolute minimum: totally transparent, almost invisible, and enclosing a miracle that is the vortex,” says Starck.

For more than 20 years, the human interaction with water and space has been at the core of Axor’s innovations. Axor Starck V takes this to new heights: with the beauty and dynamism of its vortex, the mixer bridges the gap between the functional and emotional aspects of water at the washbasin, according to Grohe.

The organic, transparent design of Axor Starck V gives it an exciting, yet subdued presence. Besides serving the technical function of making water visible, transparency aesthetically fuses the mixer body with its surroundings, thus, in essence de-materialising it.

“Axor Starck V shines with a multitude of innovations. For example, the mixer is produced out of the organic material crystal glass, which is sustainable and durable. With a flow rate of four litres per minute, Axor Starck saves water without compromising the user experience. The open, rotatable, and detachable spout offers additional comfort,” Grohe adds.

Chairs for a comfortable workplace

The Mirra 2 chair ... comfortable.

GIVEN the demand for a more collaborative work environment in today’s office space, Herman Miller, a global leader in high-performance seating, has launched its latest innovation – the Mirra 2 work chair.

Designed by Studio 7.5 of Berlin, Germany, – comprising the quartet of Burkhard Schmitz, Carola Zwick, Claudia Plikat, and Roland Zwick – Mirra 2 is built on the same principles as the company’s best-selling original, but is completely redesigned from the casters up. The result is a leaner, lighter, more responsive chair that moves as one with the user, dynamically supporting even a person’s slightest movements, as he or she switches from individual to collaborative work.

“Mirra 2 moves as people do, at one with their body. By purposefully rethinking every part of a successful design, Mirra 2 provides instant feedback for everything the sitter does, offering an intimate connection where the person and the chair move as one,” says a spokesman for Studio 7.5.

The lean design of Mirra 2 brings a sophisticated profile and visual lightness to any space. Added selections for textile and back colours along with new options for base finishes increase the range of choices.

Ondarreta launches the new Don

The Don range.

ONDARRETA contract of Spain has launched a new range of stools called Don that boast a design that harks back to the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Designed by Nadia Arratibel, head of the design team at ondarreta, the extensive range of stools, which can adapt to all kinds of spaces stools, impart a retro feel. The Don range makes it possible to create light, airy spaces that can adapt to the personality of its surroundings, according to Arratibel.

“Phenolic material inspires this piece of furniture, blending the cylindrical tube with a metallic sheet that has been cut using laser technology, as in the age of industrialisation,” she says. The frame is made up of a round steel tube with a diameter of 16 mm, and finished in colour epoxy.

The range also offers a bench version for interiors or exteriors, which maintains the essence of the chair while enabling the existing space to be shared. Available in different finishes, colours and varieties, it is suitable for a wide range of uses – with a swivel option and cross-shaped legs for work areas.

The most interesting finishes are the shades of woods such as tigris, oak, zebrano and wenge, says Arratibel. The range includes Don chair, Don with arms, Swivel Don, Don Bench two places, Don Bench three places and Don stool. In the Don model with arms, the armrests form part of the frame.

Ondarreta has been working in the field of design and manufacture of tables, chairs and stools since it was founded in 1977.