When striking out upon the vast landscape that is the design idiom, what better personage to look to for guidance than the iconic Karim Rashid. Indeed, arguably more so than any other contemporary designer, Rashid is responsible for the ascendance of the organic—one sees it in his residential furniture, his restaurant design, his hotel lobbies, even in his hand soap. And, again, one sees it in his supple, spacious, and sculptural AX20 bathtub for manufacturer Axia.

AX20 Bathtub and Washbasin. Designed by Karim Rashid. Manufactured by Axia.

Axia and Rashid Re-Define the Contemporary Bathtub

In conceptualizing the AX20, Rashid was quite purposeful in his vision of the concept: “I wanted a softness that would semantically speak to the act of cleaning oneself in a natural organic context.” The AX 20 thus departs quite drastically from the severity and linearity of  many contemporary bathroom designs in favor of round, organic shapes that convey warmth and softness.

In both the AX20 tub and the companion washbasin, the sense of a sculptor at work is very much in evidence. Rashid appears to have carved not only the interior of the tub from the proverbial chunk of marble, but the exterior as well. To achieve what is perhaps the piece’s most striking feature, the designer employed a conceptual 3D pattern of crisp edges that are softened with a sculptor’s skill, leaving the subtle indentations that characterize the tub’s exterior.

Rashid himself says that he has great appreciation for many of the geometric designs that are prevalent today, remarking that, “when designed and manufactured with great skill,” they can be very striking. With the AX20, however, “my aim was to do something more human, decorative and altogether more inviting and sensual.”

Via InteriorDesign.

About the Manufacturer: manufacturer AXIA likes to think of its collection of fittings, tubs, shower surrounds, vanities, and accessories as “technical bathrooms.” But in truth they’re much more than that. Since the company’s ascendance in the late 90’s as a forward thinking manufacturer of solutions for this most intimate of spaces, Axia has devised some of the most stunning components for bath that the industry has seen. Whether the material in question is stainless steel, resin, ceramic, or cristalplant, you can count on Axia to morph and meld it into a precision instrument that will make bathtime that much better: “a new and future-oriented conception of the bathroom as a place where one’s idea of life turns into shapes and objects, a new place in which not only human beings but also their true essence can feel at home.”