Falper Rocks the Bathroom with Menhir’s Monolithic Style

If The Flintstones had been televised long enough, then surely they would have gone a little less 1960s prehistoric and a bit more contemporary Stone Age. Their décor would have shifted from the chunky to the streamlined—and their master bath would certainly have included the Menhir Collection. Designed by Paola Navone for Italian company Falper, Menhir is a Breton word meaning a large upstanding stone—a combination of men (stone) and hir (long).

Menhir Collection. Designed by Paola Navone for Falper.

These monoliths were so named by 19th-century archaeologists, who fancied the Breton language (I’m guessing). Located all over Europe in fascinatingly inexplicable feats of engineering, Menhirs still make people the world over wonder about aliens. In the case of Falper, the Menhir Collection is definitely attributable to human ingenuity. And the collection is best characterized by the Menhir mirrors: shaped like their namesakes, these uneven, squared mirrors taper organically.

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Falper describes the Menhir Collection as “cosmopolitan and informal,” an interpretation of “the aspirations of a young, yet demanding public.” The Collection reinvents the bath’s fixtures, from cabinets to sinks: “Megalithic shaped mirrors, tactile surfaces and materials, and Mediterranean colour combinations are just a part of a positive vision that redesigns the bathroom environment.” The result is as mod as Eames’ Dot Pattern and Wilma Flintstone’s necklace. Designer Paola Navone “likes to describe herself as inquisitive and cosmopolitan,” and one could argue the same for Menhir. The washbasin bench harkens back to Stone Henge and Asian altars; and the vessel sink is reminiscent of ancient Roman baths and medieval bloodletting founts. All the pieces of the Menhir Collection take their cues from old and new alike, occidental and eastern both. Taking monolithic rocks as an inspiration results in a unique design paradox. The Menhir Collection fits as well in Bollywood as in Hollywood (and Hollyrock too)!

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