Antoniolupi design | Cristalmood bringing colour and character to the bathroom

While the world seems to have come on hold, and we are mostly home between our own four walls for the last weeks, a comfortable home has become more important than ever. For several years I have been writing about the importance of only surrounding yourself with the things that you really love and to focus on a more minimalistic and multifunctional home where we choose more consciously what comes in, stays and what goes.

With all the time we currently spend at home, it seems more important than ever to look at our house and the different rooms again. In any case, with the above in mind, quality is important when we make choices nowadays. Whether you have a new home or want to upgrade the home you live in, I think it is important to go for quality products that last, learn about design and show our appreciation for designers and craftsmanship.

Italy is the country of choice when it comes to quality and design for decades. While working at imm back in January, I got to meet Andrea Lupi, art director of antoniolupi and learn more of the versatile famous Italian quality brand. I could feel Andrea’s passion for the family brand and the different products while walking with him through the stand where several bathrooms were perfectly combined with living spaces and a spectacular showcase of the different shower heads.

Antonio Lupi Design is a Tuscan company which has stood out in the design and manufacturing of bathroom furniture, both in Italy and abroad, for the past seventy years. The distinctive features of this ever-developing company are its ability to innovate by continuously searching for new materials and designs, while investing heavily in manufacturing technology.

Although antoniolupi began by producing exclusively bathroom accessories and mirrors, its product line now embraces the entire living space, thanks to different collaboration with established designers, such as Carlo Colombo, Nevio Tellatin, Mauro Carlesi, Calvi Brambilla, Mario Ferrarini, Domenico de Palo and Massimo Broglio.

The strong connection I have with Italy makes it extra special for me to work with an Italian brand like antoniolupi. In the coming months I will show different collections and projects on the blog. Antoniolupi has distinguished itself as a top brand on the Italian and International markets for their bathroom furnishings projects. Investments in research, technology and creativity and the choice to work with international architects and the capability of design and innovation results in products such as ‘Cristalmood’, antoniolupi’s own creation!

Cristalmood – a closer look
Cristalmood is a resin and antoniolupi’s own creation! The processing stages of Cristalmood are quite complex, and manual intervention and craftsmanship are essential. The resin is manually poured into molds and objects are finished manually by sanding them to remove all imperfections both inside and out. As if made of stone, each product is unique, the slight differences in color, size, or small air bubbles that can form, give soul and authenticity to each object.

Thanks to the composition, now available in 13 different colours. We already saw Fumé, Nebbia, Ocra, Bottle, Petroleum, Ginger, Cobalt, Sangria, Amber and Lime. The collaboration between Andrea Lupi e Gumdesign resulted in 3 new colours: Ceruleo, Oleo and Gran Cru that bring the palette to a total of 13 shades. Objects made from Cristalmood weigh about 30% less than those made with solid surfaces and is used in different products from sinks and bathtubs to vases,

Cristalmood is perfect to produce sinks combined with the most diverse materials, achieving refined color combinations. Composed of high quality polyester resin and coloring pigments. Cristalmood has passed the anti-corrosion tests(salt spray) and can be cleaned with all the most common detergents, also resistant to rubbing alcohol, acetone, oils, gasoline or diesel fuel.

Reflex – A minimal bathtub
The Reflex bathtub designed by AL Studio and the first transparent bathtub by antoniolupi made of Cristalmood, immediately caught my eye at imm Cologne! Being drawn to a more minimal colour palette, I loved the warm colour of the shown model. The bath is characterised by neat shapes and colours, harmony and minimalism, it couldn’t be any other than that this bathtub appealed to me! Available in 13 different colours to choose from makes the bathtub suitable for every bathroom taste.

reflex bathtub on the right imm 2020

Albume freestanding washbasin
Albume is the freestanding washbasin designed by Carlo Colombo that alternates between a solid base and a transparent and colored basin in two different shapes. The refined color and contrasts between the upper part and the infinite variations used for the base, including options such as Bianco Carrara or Nero Marquinia marble, allows you to customize the sink and give a specific character to the whole, making Albume to fit perfectly into refined bathrooms, in which its materials harmonize with the surfaces and other elements.

Ago basin

While writing this blogpost I feel so happy I had the chance to work at imm back in January and had the chance to get to see the collection with my own eyes. What I remember most from their stand is the harmony in colour within the whole antoniolupi collection. Wash Basins on wooden surfaces, bronzed faucets and taps, round mirrors and beautiful carpets combined with sculptural coffee tables next to a few striking coloured wash basins. The Ago basin is a perfect example of a minimal design that would look good in any bathroom.

Opale washbasin – A dialogue between materials
Opale is a collection of washbasins through which antoniolupi continues its research, started with Albume collection, on the potential of coloured Cristalmood and its ability to dialogue with natural materials that have always been in the company’s DNA. The name refers explicitly to geometry and the infinite reflections of precious stones.

Different solutions that involve the combination of volumes made of different materials, generate entirely new sensations and very special unprecedented experiences. The washbasin is available in the new decagonal shape or in the more traditional round shape, in the top mount version, and it is always perfectly matching with other products by antoniolupi.

Vitreo basin
Albume and Opale showed a combination of materials, Vitreo is a single Cristalmood block that seamlessly expresses all the elegance of the material and the classic geometry of the sink shapes. With its decagonal shape I think this basin is a real statement in the bathroom, available in 13 colours and able to fit different refined styles contexts. It is also providing a sense of brightness to the space thanks to the infinite reflections generated by the dialogue with the architectural elements, surfaces and furnishings that compose it.

Vitreo basins and Flower vases

Flower vases – Asa, Nisi and Masa.
Cristalmood and its trendy colours, different shapes, heights and diameters are what characterizes the collection of Flower vases designed by Calvi Brambilla. A variety of different vases in three different series: Asa, Nisi and Masa. Three names that immediately refer to the history of Italian cinema, and the nursery rhyme by Fellini in 8 ½.