Word: nouvel
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...Faucet Follies The faucet designed by Jean Nouvel [Dec. 25, 2006?Jan. 1, 2007] is the perfect illustration of our society gone berserk. When half of the world population is without potable water, a famous architect spends his time putting on the market, for €1,600, a faucet that one can "caress" instead of turning its knobs. The African women carrying buckets of unclean water on their heads for long distances would certainly appreciate the possibility of turning knobs even if, in the eyes of Nouvel, it is archaic. May I suggest that 50% of the price of that...
...array of sensations can come over a person fumbling with the water knobs in the shower: a sudden chill, perhaps, or a burning blast. French architect Jean Nouvel reacted on a higher plane. "There's something archaic about turning knobs to make water run," he says. "The controls should be something you caress rather than manipulate." Thus Nouvel, who designed such innovative buildings as the Torre Agbar in Barcelona and the newly opened Mus?e du Quai Branly in Paris, had found another design challenge. Upscale home-furnishing stores are now rolling out his bathroom fixtures, which he designed to eliminate...
...Nouvel says his faucet design was inspired by a water-worn stone, but it looks more like a Zen master's TV remote control fixed to the lip of a basin. It has one button to turn on or increase the water's flow, one to turn it off or down, and one each to make it hotter or colder. Behind the minimalist exterior is a programmable sensor that allows the user to get precisely the temperature desired with a single push-er, caress-of a button...
...Nouvel can pick his tasks, so why bathrooms? "It turned out I have something to say about taps," says Nouvel, 61. "We have technology now that lets us minimize our gestures; we can move forward into a kind of Darwinism of objects." Well, some of us can. Nouvel's designs, which include a shower system, faucets for bath and basin, a matte white bathroom sink and accessories from towel bars to soap dishes, aren't destined for just any member of the great unwashed: the faucet alone retails for $2,090. www.jado.com
...array of sensations can come over a person fumbling with the water knobs in the shower: a sudden chill, perhaps, or a burning blast. French architect Jean Nouvel reacted on a higher plane. "There's something archaic about turning knobs to make water run," he says. "The[an error occurred while processing this directive] controls should be something you caress rather than manipulate." Thus Nouvel, who designed such innovative buildings as the Torre Agbar in Barcelona and the newly opened Musée du Quai Branly in Paris, had found another design challenge. Upscale home-furnishing stores are now rolling...