A trip to Laufen’s factory in Switzerland

Posted in Business on 28 June, 2017

Laufen is one of the world’s most prominent producers of luxurious and high-quality bathrooms and this year marks their 125 birthday. SPACE’s Tonje Odegard visited the factory in Switzerland and saw the celebratory art exhibition at Design Miami in Basel. Find out what she saw…

Visiting the Laufen headquarters in Laufen, Switzerland was a great experience to get a proper insight into the hard work and passion that goes into producing the top bathroom products in the world.

Experienced tour guides took the visitors around the factory and explained all the different stages of making the perfect toilet and wash basin.

Visiting the showroom was also an incredible experience, where whole bathroom collections, designed in collaboration with world-renowned designers such as Patricia Urquiola, Konstantin Grcic and Toan Nguyen were on display.

To celebrate 125 years of Laufen, an exciting exhibition at Design Miami in Basel was put up.

MILESTONES — 125 years of LAUFEN

Time flies. It turns into history. What remains is knowledge. Experience. And the things we have created.

That’s why LAUFEN is celebrating the 125 years, which have passed since the company first started burning clay objects into ceramic, in a spirit of gratitude for all that remains — the milestones of the past, present and future.

Artist and designers have created sculptures for all the areas which influence and help the company grow: work, material, technology — and above all else the people, who with their energy, creativity, skills and know-how allow LAUFEN to continue to thrive, even after 125 years.

The resulting exhibition, curated by Beda Acherman, displays a sculpture for each milestone by Benjamin Dillenburger and Michael Hansmeyer, Flag, Stefano Giovannoni, Konstantin Grcic, Alfredo Häberli, Toan Nguyen, Nissen Wentzlaff, Atelier oï, Ludovica + Roberto Palomba, Patricia Urquiola, Peter Wirz and Studio Achermann, produced through experimentation with new ceramic materials and techniques that point towards the future of our industry.

Time flies. But some of the things that are gone resonate well into the future. Sometimes for 125 years.