How have we changed since 1948, when Gio Ponti designed Zeta?

When Gio Ponti designed the Zeta line, Italy was becoming urban. It was the postwar period, less than 50% of the houses had an indoor bathroom. Ponti does a job that did not have a name at the time: he is the art director of a company that set itself the task of industrially producing bathrooms for an Italy that was reborn at that time. Achille Castiglioni, a few years later, observes how the body moves and draws Linda, another revolutionary series, which suggests a ritual use of the bathroom. He recognizes the part of well-being, the body that approaches, the movement of the hands, redefines a role and gives it a role.

In the work of Ponti and Castiglioni there is the search for the ideal standard, for an industrial project that leads to an inclusive product, suitable for everyone.

Why go back to working on these now “ancient” series?

When Ideal Standard asked us for a new product, I proposed to CEO Torsten Tuerling something that he probably already had in mind: to go back to thinking with design. Over the years the company has focused on industrial evolution. He has achieved incredible manufacturing competence. Now she needs cultural direction. Ideal standard has in its history the eternal values of design. Going back to those values requires a reflection on the origins.

The Atelier collection stems from the desire to act on the models and enhance them in an original project, whose value is declared and chosen, is intrinsic to the product. It was an archaeological work: I found the definitive drawings for the production, the various technical evolutions, in a forgotten archive.