LIXIL | "Foam" with the Potential to Revolutionize Daily Living!
LIXIL
A “Foam” with the Potential to Revolutionize Home Life!
At last year's Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan, a certain “foam” became the talk of the town. Developed by LIXIL, a comprehensive manufacturer of housing equipment and building materials, it was used to propose a new style of bathing originating from Japan. This year's Salone Internazionale del Mobile will unveil further “pleasures” of foam, showcasing future “forms of living” through new technologies and concepts.
Text by SUGIURA Shu (OPENERS)
Fine Foam That Blurs the Boundaries Between Bathroom and Living Room!?
This exceptionally fine foam, with a diameter of 100 to several hundred microns, is achieved through LIXIL's newly developed proprietary bath foam liquid and its unique technology for generating foam by controlling water and air. The time spent enveloped in this rich foam, also known as “velvet foam,” brings an unprecedented sense of fulfillment and a sophisticated worldview to both mind and body.
Concept Bath
A “Foam” with a Velvet-Like Texture
This fine foam offers another significant advantage. The creamy foam acts as a lid for the bathtub, preventing the water from cooling down and reducing steam. This makes it possible to place a bathtub in a study, as depicted in the top image. While popular designers like Antonio Citterio have proposed such ideas, the “living bath” style, where bathtubs are placed in living rooms, has recently begun to gain traction in Europe. This foam is likely to provide a new “form of living” that caters to this trend.
Mr. Arishiro, President of LIXIL Corporation, Housing Equipment and Building Materials Company, which oversees the water business at LIXIL, explains that the new lifestyle enabled by this foam aligns with the Eastern philosophy of “coexistence of opposing elements.”
“For a long history, humans have lived in environments where elements that form opposing pairs—such as inside and outside, individual and group, confinement and freedom, and people and nature—are kept separate. LIXIL also conducts business in the housing-related field, where opposing elements like indoor and outdoor spaces, and water-related and non-water-related products exist, providing value to our customers' lives.
However, we now aim to create entirely new living environments by blending these opposing elements through our unique technologies and solutions, thereby contributing to people's affluent and comfortable lives and to the global environment.”
Designer Kenya Hara
Children also delighted in the foam. At last year's Salone del Mobile in Milan.
The exhibition space this year is designed by Kenya Hara, a leading Japanese designer and advisory board member for MUJI. LIXIL will present an installation showcasing future “forms of living” through its new technologies and concepts, featuring three foam baths. Titled “A New Desire - Discovering Bliss -,” Hara also sees great potential in this foam, stating, “Rather than a new bathing style, it opens up new horizons for human desire.”
A New Space Within the Home, Blurring the Lines Between WET and DRY.
This magical foam not only provides a comfortable bathing experience but may also usher in a completely new lifestyle where various boundaries within the home disappear.
Salone del Mobile LIXIL Exhibition Overview
Venue: SUPERSTUDIO Più (Zona Tortona district)
Address: c/o Superstudio Più, via Tortona 27
Nearest Station: Subway: MM2 Porta Genova, Tram: 2, 9, 14, 19, Bus: 47, 68, 74, 90, 91
Dates: April 17 (Tue) - 22 (Sun), 2012, 10:00 - 21:00
Press Preview: April 16 (Mon), 15:00 - 20:00
http://lixil-milano.com/