“Simplifying a project can be very difficult, and it requires lots of creativity.” This less comes from Bruno Munari, in his essay “Da cosa nasce cosa,” a sort of design manual for everyone that provides a method with which to tackle real problems. And he continues: “Simplifying means trying to fix the problem by eliminating everything that does not serve for effective functioning.” The affinities of Agape with this thinking are immediately visible in every product, every collection created by the Mantua-based company, whose culture relies on purity of forms and absence of artifice (for almost 50 years).
This is even clearer in the new ‘Ell column’ washstands, namely the freestanding column version that expands the essential approach that is the key feature of the entire collection. The Ell program, in fact, initially designed by Benedini Associates in collaboration with Diego Cisi and Andrés Jost, offers a range of sink counters driven by concepts of lightness and configuration, in a self-supporting version or inserted in the top, resting on a storage cabinet.
In a process of ongoing study conducted by the studio Benedini Associati, new possible expressions of ‘Ell column’ have emerged, though always in relation to the space, as dictated by the Agape philosophy: “We are architects at heart and we work with architects and designers to create objects that become part of a work of architecture.”
Distancing the washstand from the wall, Benedini Associati has continued the process of subtraction based on Munari’s teachings, in terms of materials and parts. The result is the pure essence of a washstand, a horizontal line and a support column. Two simple architectural figures that convey a radical sense of functions. In the ‘Ell column’ model the entire counter incorporates the grille, erasing the presence of the basin while duplicating its functional performance: from a hand-basin to a surface for soap and other objects.
The purity of form goes beyond aesthetic value to also enhance the material itself: the top is in white or deep caviar Corian®, like the grille, or in white Carrara, gray Carnico or black Marquina marble. The column is in powder-coated white or dark steel. The ‘Ell column’ thus becomes the epitome of ‘good design,’ a timeless solution that plays with the senses and the space.
Discover the entire collection on the Agape website.
