Matteo Thun and the minimal design seire. Toilet seats are not always easy to find.
Let’s start by looking at who this designer is. The source is Wikipedia: “Matteo Thun was born in Bolzano in 1952 and is the first son of the South Tyrolean entrepreneurial family Thun (Lene and Otmar von Thun und Hohenstein), his younger brother Peter took over the management of Thun AG in 1978. Matteo Thun studied at the Academy in Salzburg with Oskar Kokoschka and graduated in architecture in 1975 from Università degli Studi di Firenze. In 1978, he moved to Milan where he met Ettore Sottsass and in 1981 he co-founded Sottsass Associati and the Gruppo Memphis. In 1984, he founded his own studio and worked for Swatch as artistic director from 1990 to 1993. From 1983 to 2000 he was professor of design and ceramics at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. In 2001 he founded Matteo Thun + Partners, a multicultural architecture and design studio with headquarters in Milano and a branch in Shanghai. The company operates internationally and has been developing hospitality, residential, headquarters, retail, urban design and master planning projects for over 20 years. Together with its partner Antonio Rodriguez and a team of 70 experts in the fields of architecture, design and communication, it designs from the micro to the macro, using an interdisciplinary approach.”
MUSE series by Ceramica Catalano
(Year 2007) Let’s start with Thun’s description of it on his site: ”Designed by Matteo Thun & Antonio Rodriguez. A mix of historical memory and technological know-how, this collection features smooth lines drawing on a form of classicism in tune with the present. It includes floor standing, wall and top mounting wash basins and all other sanitary ceramics for the bathroom. We have already discussed this in the post: ”Unique (special) shapes and their toilet seats: Muse, Fiorile, Memory ”, We’ll quote an entire passage to show why Muse and its toilet seat cover also represent the unique shapes category: “Today we’re going to look at series of sanitaryware that we consider unique shapes and difficult to imitate. We have already seen in other posts, that often a ceramic manufacturer creates a shape and the others behind it imitate, modify the proportions and measurements and the series of sanitaryware is then presented to the market. The series we see in this post could easily have played the role of forerunners of a style, but for a number of reasons (practical craftsmanship/production difficulties (the competition cannot do certain processes), competition distracted by other projects,….) this did not happen and they remained unique. They have all become an integral part of the history of bathroom furniture and best sellers of the period in which they were produced. In this category, in addition to the Muse series by Catalano ceramics, there are the following series Fiorile Ideal Standard and the series Memory Hidra Ceramiche.” In our opinion, Thun has created almost a sculpture and not a simple sanitary ware (the free-standing washbasin of the series is also incredible). Looking at these sanitary ware you have the sensation of softness, they remind you of a white sheet animated by sea breezes. You get the feeling of something capable of embracing you without touching you. To create this shape, Catalano’s master ceramists have combined history and production technology. The original Muse toilet seat is still available in the store. [ clik here ] and a new PLUS extra-slim version with slow-motion hinges [ clik here ]
ROMA series by Ceramica Catalano
(Year 2005) A few years before Muse, Thun designed the Roma series for caramica Catalano. Starting from an important oval shape in the upper part, the sanitary ware ended up on the floor on a square base in the imperial style typical of ancient Roman buildings. A suspended series was also available, but the stylistic content was somewhat lost, even though it was very distinctive and recognisable. It was a very large vase (39 cm) and certainly suitable for large bathrooms. Its original toilet seat is still available at the following link [ clik here ]
Durastyle series by Duravit
(Year 2013) This series marks a stylistic and geometric turning point for the designer. The curved, soft lines of Muse and Roma are abandoned and the direction is taken towards the rectangle, however softened in the front corners by a slight curve and slight incline in the upper part of the sanitary ware. The company website Duravit describes this series as follows: “Individuality is crucial. Individuality does not mean impressing by any means. A discreet ambience allows personality to be revealed and realised in complete freedom. Just like DuraStyle, the bathroom range designed by Matteo Thun & Partners, which appears deliberately discreet and thus fits harmoniously into any environment.” The original Durastyle toilet seat is available in the store at the following link [ clik here ]
Toilet Seat (Shower toilet, Aquaclean Sela for Geberit)
Here you don’t have to talk about the sanitary fitting to look at the toilet seat. With the Sela project for Geberit Thun brings technology to an incredibly simple but still useful object. To see objects of this kind we previously had to travel to Japan (where, because of limited space in all areas of social life, they had to give up the bidet, but apparently not personal hygiene). With Sela, electronic toilet seats are also becoming established in Europe. I leave you the link to the website Geberit to learn more about the many technical features of this toilet seat cover. The product is available in the Sintesibagno store at the following link [ clik here ]
We have seen the ceramic series designed by Matteo Thun and their toilet seats. If you still have doubts about which toilet seat to look for in your bathroom, we suggest you send us an e-mail to info@sintesibagno.it or a WhatsApp message to 3341288978 with two pictures of your toilet seat and a few measurements and we will be able to help you choose a toilet seat. Here is the video on how to proceed with the toilet seat search:
