11 September 2009

A Brizo Thursday



So I made it to New York this afternoon and after a two year absence, it's really good to be back here. I always forget just how much I like how this city feels. It has an effect on me and all I need to do is see the skyline from across the East River. That first time the city comes into view just does something to me. I feel instantly smarter and more successful. It's an odd thing.

I'm here as the guest of Brizo as I've been saying for the last couple of weeks. They've put me in a great hotel in Murray Hill, the 70 Park Avenue Hotel. The 70 Park Avenue is a smaller boutique hotel, and a lovely one at that. There are Frette sheets on the bed behind me and believe me, they are calling.


I'm here with a small group of designers and architects from around the US. We spent the afternoon getting to know one another a bit and then meeting with the Brizo product development and marketing teams. All of us who are participating have a vested interest in understanding one another and it's really cool to be a part of this group. We've been given the chance to see into the process of how Brizo gets an idea for a fixture and how that idea becomes a faucet. It's fascinating stuff and I could spend the next few days talking to the industrial designers in particular. They work in an environment of ideas and they love their work, that much is obvious. Listening as they traced back the allusions, homages and influences that went into the fixtures I already know was captivating. These people travel the world, looking for shapes and trends and inspiration and then they take all of those disparate images and distill them into a single shape. It's heady stuff, and pure design. Where all of this is heading next is jaw-dropping. Keep your eyes on this brand, trust me on that.


Following the process of going from an Erte illustration to the RSVP faucet above is a wild ride and after having been granted a glimpse into the process I can see the finished product in different light. This synergy of art and commerce, of elevating an everyday object to the status of an icon, is some pretty cool work and I'm thrilled to meet the people who do just that as their life's work.

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