Design

The Philosophy of Faucets

Gessi’s Equilibrio line of faucets goes beyond mere aesthetics and utility, and stands as a profound symbol for nature.

by Emil Hofileña, photo by Dexterton
Dexterton Corporation’s growth into the country’s leading distributor of hardware products, home furnishings, and building materials allows it to promote some unconventional items that blur the line between utility and art. Equilibrio, the new line of faucets from the Italian bathroom-and-kitchen company Gessi, was launched on March 23 at Dexterton’s Bonifacio Global City showroom, where attendees were introduced to the emotional and philosophical context behind the products’ deceptively simple design.

 

Before the actual unveiling of Equilibrio, the launch featured other new products aligned with the event’s motif of furnishings inspiring emotion. Italian company Plust displayed a wide variety of fully functional light-up furniture, from couches and chairs to a full bar. Complementing the solid white glow of Plust’s products were the shifting colors of Gruppo Treesse’s whirlpool tub. Working in tandem, the two companies demonstrated what their ideal rooftop party looks like — flashy with a sense of wonder, but without having to blind partygoers with spotlights and strobes.

 

 

Artist-philosopher Marsel Lesko, the inspiration behind Equilibrio, introduced Gessi’s new line of faucets by balancing a set of stones of different shapes and sizes on top of one another. The idea behind Lesko’s performance was the importance of balance in both aesthetics and life, which can only be obtained through connecting directly to nature through the material of the furnishings themselves.

 

 

The Equilibrio faucets resemble two stones balancing on each other and come available in three textures: metal, stone, and wood. However, they also reverse Lesko’s performance in a particular way: while he trickles water onto his balanced stones after a performance, Equilibrio becomes the source of water itself — a symbol of the cycle of nature. Equilibrio can then be enjoyed as both a perfectly functional tool for one’s home, or as a meaningful sculpture in itself.

 

 

The amount of thought that goes into the design processes of companies like Gessi, Plust, and Gruppo Treesse is unprecedented and, at times, downright difficult to grasp. But Dexterton shows that some complicated ideas can only be understood if they’re brought together and allowed to play off of one another. The fact that this much can be said about bathroom furnishings proves that these guys know what they’re doing.

 



Visit Dexterton’s showrooms at North Bonifacio Global City, Greenbelt 5, and Sgt. E. Rivera St., Quezon City.