Antonio Lupi Design’s bathrooms between luxury and illusion
Craftsmanship in the service of innovation and creativity. It is the story of Antonio Lupi Design S.p.A. that begins in the 1950s, when craftsman Antonio Lupi, who specializes in working with crystal and glass for furniture, established a small company. Within a few years, its production expanded to include mirrors, wall sconces and chandeliers and then to bathroom furniture, marketed under the name Cristal Lupi Luxor.
The success achieved in selling crystal accessories necessitated the expansion of the company, which resulted in the construction of a new factory in 1969. It was with this transition that Antonio Lupi, assisted by his son Andrea, developed the idea of the so-called “total look” for bathroom furnishings, presenting for the first time at Cersaie in 1983 a collection of bathroom systems that would achieve enormous success, because it was revolutionary and already highly sought-after, in materials and shapes.
A turning point, that, which marked the rise of the brand. In the 1990s, the company was ready for the big leap and presented its first collection of ceramic washbasins. In 2002 came the first revolutionary idea with the presentation of the first Corian® collection.
Today, the company, governed by the founder’s heirs – Nello, Patrizia, Andrea and Sergio – is a dynamic and innovative, forward-looking reality, able to anticipate market tastes, with a long-term vision whose ultimate goal is to revolutionize the way the bathroom environment is experienced.
Intreccio, a marble flower with a light soul
Looking like a sculpture that combines the ethereal shape of a corolla and the solidity of marble, Intreccio, the freestanding washbasin signed by Paolo Ulian for antoniolupi, plays on the relationship between the lightness of the sign and the solidity of the material, on the balance between a sophisticated artifice and a seemingly natural form. A washbasin that, although made of marble, weighs only 55 kg, and is formed by a three-dimensional structure composed of overlapping concentric layers made from a single block of marble only 11 cm thick. A structure that makes magical the chiaroscuro play, of solids and voids, that is created by the variation of light on concave or convex shapes.
Numerically controlled machining technologies were used to make Intreccio, resulting in curvilinear and subtle shapes that are almost as light as if they were made of another material and not marble. The rings that make up this washbasin are concentric, carved one inside the other from the same block of marble, an expedient that made it possible to drastically reduce the waste produced by cutting.
Borghi, the sink that tells the story of Tuscany
Sustainability, elegance of materials, dimensional balance, the sophisticated relationship of volumes and, the evocative narrative underlying the design. This is the fruit of the collaboration between antoniolupi and Gumdesign that resulted in Borghi, the new freestanding washbasin that idealizes the atmospheres of Tuscany. The chosen color palette harks back to the memory of the sky at dusk, ripe grapes before harvest, and the foliage of centuries-old olive trees. Poetry and memory facts produced. Borghi is made of contrasts such as cork and Cristalmood, two very different but both sustainable materials. The base is made from reclaimed cork and reassembled using only resins. Lightweight, flexible, durable, recycled and 100% recyclable material. The Cristalmood from which the basin is made is a transparent, colorable and durable resin that is durable, restorable and recyclable.
Seductive shapes and transparencies for the Reflex bathtub
Seduction enters the bathroom with the Reflex tub made for antoniolupi by Al Studio. As durable as stone and as transparent as crystal, it allows glimpses of the sinuous play of shapes created within it by the movements of water.
The tub, with its pure form, enhanced by the material: Cristalmood, a resin that is manually cast into molds. Once extracted, the objects must be manually finished by sanding to remove all imperfections, both inside and out. Given the type of workmanship and craftsmanship of production, each Cristalmood object is unique and unrepeatable in terms of differences in color, thickness, and size.
Apollo, the dandelion of light and water
Light and Water, two elements put together in a single composition of pure forms, Apollo, which bears the signature of Brian Sironi. It is a hybrid object in which neither function perceptually prevails: it is a lamp, but at the same time a shower head.
It is inspired by the figure of Apollo who, in classical mythology, is the sun god, a deity of light and heat, although his birth occurred in water. The two elements in the Greek deity are perfectly integrated, just as they are in the showerhead collection. For the first time, this piece of furniture reveals a dual nature that fascinates: it is capable of emanating light and water. The showerheads are a composition of tubular lines that subverts the paradigm of existing ones, while the lamp, which can take various shapes, is a simple circular sphere.
Apollo is thus a source of light and a source of water at the same time and makes the experience of showering particularly pleasant, a holistic experience that satisfies the senses.
