13.06.2024 | Five questions for Antonio Citterio about his first project for Duravit, the Aurena bathroom range.

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Antonio Citterio at the booth of the Salone del mobile 2024, where the Aurena bathroom range was debuted. (Image source: Duravit AG)

Antonio Citterio’s first collaboration with Duravit was inspired by the Golden Ratio. The result is the Aurena bathroom range, which exudes timeless elegance. Ceramic in White or Black meets brushed stainless steel and a wide range of furniture finishes for unique and high-quality interior design. Aurena is a versatile interior-design all-rounder and is as equally well suited for use in private or guest bathrooms as in signature properties such as hotels, medical offices, or office and restaurant restrooms.


What demands on a contemporary bathroom does Aurena fulfil?

Antonio Citterio: With the Aurena bathroom range I sought to give very simple answers to various realities. At the washbasin we need elements for hanging a towel, we need large vanity tops, we need storage space – and it should all fit together perfectly. Aurena offers solutions for the room that go beyond mere aesthetics. We know we need a range of elements to cater to different spatial situations, including double washbasins. These are real things that reflect a real demand that goes beyond mere aesthetics.


How did you approach the Aurena bathroom range?

Antonio Citterio: We took fundamental considerations as our starting point – the idea of the spatial solution, the idea of order in the bathroom, and the idea of handling water with care, which is why we reduced the size of the washbasins, for example. These were the most important initial pointers. When we talk about bathroom furniture, we mean objects that are not only functional, but that are also capable of more. For example, when we think of hotel bathrooms, then they need large vanity tops and ways of creating order. Each piece of furniture must offer space for hand towels, cosmetics, a hair dryer, the toothbrush... We also wanted to transpose this experience from the hospitality sector to the private bathroom and execute it with a certain aesthetic flourish. That was the focus.


How do you combine architecture and design in your projects?

Antonio Citterio: I engage with design as a component of architecture projects. As an architect you’re well aware of the problems in construction projects and try to give an answer to these. I think that in general it’s an Italian tradition, and in particular the Milan tradition, that architects do design and not the other way round. If you only do design, you immediately think of a really iconic object and whether it’s functional or not functional doesn’t matter. Conversely, as an architect, you really tackle the problem and look at the best way of going about solving it. Indeed, it’s no coincidence that we started by looking for spatial “solutions” instead of designing an iconic object with Aurena.


To what extent is the design of Aurena inspired by the Golden Ratio?

Antonio Citterio: The Golden Ratio is all about the proportions, about how you divide up a space to create an aesthetic perception of balance that looks pleasant to you. The elegant integrated dividers that organize the area into differently sized sub-areas in accordance with the rules of the Golden Ratio are a key component of the design. The aesthetic effect that this achieves is important. The bathroom has become a personal space that conveys satisfaction. Here’s it’s no longer about mere function.


What does the bathroom mean to you personally?

Antonio Citterio: In comparison to earlier times, when the bathroom merely served a practical purpose and was about pure function, perhaps for a large family, today it’s become a more personal room and not least a living space. In my own bathroom I have comfy chairs and books, I watch the news and listen to music. For me it’s the place where I can withdraw, be myself and start and end the day on as harmonious a note as possible. This works especially well because my wife and I have separate bathrooms, which is completely normal in the USA, where she grew up.