23 February 2010

Live free, shower free

Here's a couple of shots of a shower by Tetard, Hadiquez and Grisoni (better known as THG) at last month's Maison et Objet éditeurs in Paris. Maison et Objet is a world renowned annual showcase of fantastical house products. Christian May, of the internet's Maison21, is a Maison et Objet  habitué and maybe he'll share with us some insights on his various trips over there if we ask him nicely. Anyhow, back to the shower. Here it is.




I thinks it's glorious and it reminds me of a concept pioneered by Dornbracht, another fixture manufacturer. Dornbracht developed something they call a Free Shower. It's free in the sense that it's not walled off. Here are a couple of Dornbracht's Free Showers.





I love them and I love the idea of showering without standing in a box. But then again I have an exhibitionist streak and the years have been kind to me.

What do you think of the idea of showering without boundaries? Did Dornbracht start something great or impractical? Given the opportunity to install the THG shower shown at the top of this post, would you?

25 comments:

  1. Thanks, Paul, for soliciting feedback which brings me back to my little efficiency apartment in Perugia. Tiny, triangular bathroom, tiled all in pink ceramic (even the ceiling). Water heater so small (hat box size) that I could shave only one leg per day before running out of hot water. Had to leave my clothes and towels in the floor outside so as not to soak them, for the shower head came out of the wall just above the bathroom door. I am all for boundaryless showers, provided the exuberant splashing doesn't soak the room. My travel buddy in Florence couldn't get the hang of the hand-held shower in the deep tub last summer. She came out of her morning ablutions apologizing for having soaked the bathroom in an inch of water. "On a positive note," she said, "since I soaked you pajamas, I figured I should do you the favor of washing them." Now that's a travel buddy.

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  2. I dunno, we might need a post about how to shower now.. oh, nm.. that's AT.

    *cough*www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/how-to/how-to-hang-10-shirts-in-10-seconds-home-hacks-109499 *cough*

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  3. It's great, but where is the douche hose?

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  4. -Hey, want to see my collection of antique bread mold?

    -Uh, sure. Why not?

    -Great! Just step through this shower here.

    -Bob?

    -Hmm?

    -You have a shower in the living room.

    -Yeah, just had it installed. I have a 1432 example of Rhizopus stolonifer that absolutely cannot be contaminated by human skin cells.

    -You want us to strip?

    -Well, one can't be too careful.

    -But, my hair! I had it done just for this dinner party!

    -Hey, you can stay here and not disarrange your 'do or you can come in with the rest of us and see the finest examples of bread mold this side of the Pacific. Your choice.

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  5. Julie: A well-designed wet room is a joy to behold. A poorly-designed one is a pain in the ass. The room where I stayed in New York a couple of weeks ago had a poorly designed wet room and everything int he bath got soaked with every shower. There was no way to angle the shower head to avoid it either. Despite your bad experience, at least it was in Firenza. I think I'd put up with bathing in the Arno for the chance!

    Nim: They've reached a new low. I'm shaking my fist in their direction.

    Brandon: Nice people don't talk about such things. But since we're not nice people I'll write to the manufacturer and ask.

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  6. Bravewolf you slay me. Are you a biologist? I wonder if the idea for wet rooms came from sterile labs...

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  7. For the record, I love the open showers. We'd totally have to change the bathroom etiquette at my house though, no more kids coming through to use the mirror when I'm showering. (I think I've scarred them enough already)

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  8. I love them too but then again, I love alone. I wonder how a Free Shower would work in a multi-person household. Anyone? Anyone?

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  9. Well, if you're not body-shy it could be fine. Unfortunately, North America sexualizes nudity to the degree where naked baby pictures are grounds for calling CPS.

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  10. We are TOTALLY not nice people.. but that's why we're fun!

    Paul, I think that if you have the cash for a shower room like that, you'd probably have more than one bathroom (unlike my house, dammit). And I'm sorry to hear that you "love alone" maybe that's why you like the whole shower room concept so much?

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  11. I always thought that the over-sexualization of nudity was an American trait. I always think of you guys as being beyond American prudishness. You're bursting my bubble Bravewolf.

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  12. Good Lord, what a typo! Paging Dr. Freud, paging Dr. Freud...

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  13. Your house would have to be a WHOLE LOT WARMER than my house to use this shower. We are accustomed to living a chilly old house, but I discovered several years ago that the avg. temp in the bathroom (one) is 55 degrees. And we are fine with that as long as the shower curtain is pulled and sealed! I showered in an open shower while in Scotland many years ago and it was not a great experience standing in someone else's cold home completely naked (and blue from the cold). Willing to give your beautiful shower another go, maybe in St. Petersburg, FL. Even better? An outdoor shower. Love those!

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  14. Ha, ha, beverage alert needed here! I did a kerbless, enclosureless shower for my boys, with a glass door with that opens to the pool, it is awesome, best shower in the house. But Kathleen is right, it does feel chillier than an enlosed one in winter (we keep our house cold). Also, it is in a bathroom with a door, so perhaps does not fit the free shower concept?
    On the prudishness, there's definitely a huge difference here in the US. Little kids run naked all over beaches in Europe - in "liberal" California I was told off by another Mom for letting my 2 year old change into his swimming costume at the poolside - she said it was offensive. I was dumbfounded!

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  15. Kathleen: Even if I had a wet room, even here, I'd still install radiant heat in the floor. Cold and naked is my idea of hell. Cold, naked and wet is something I can't even think about.

    Christine: Thanks for your thorough research. I will file it away for later reference.

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  16. A grown woman was offended by a naked TWO year old? My god people... get a hobby. (instead of the hobby that you apparently already have of taking offense to silly things)

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  17. Sarah: Your kids' bath sounds fantastic, I love that feeling of openness. It had to have been easier to keep clean when they were young too. So far as your story about the other mom by the pool, I'll never get that kind of reaction. It says more about the one who makes the comment than it does the situation at hand but it still doesn't make it any easier to stomach.

    Nim: The US needs people like you patrolling it regularly. Help us please.

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  18. Are you kidding? I'm sticking to Canada! The US is waaaay too freaky! (plus my dog has an allergy to rabies shots and they won't accept titers the last time I checked)

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  19. I envy you some times. Why does Canada have to be so frickin' cold? Please phone your PM and ask him to open a branch office of your country in a warmer climate.

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  20. Actually where we are is temperate compared to, say, Minnesota. We're on Vancouver Island. Lots of rain, but less cold and the trees are already putting out new leaves.

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  21. I have never been to Vancouver, but it is on my list. You know, this part of Florida feels like a Canadian colony at this time every year.

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  22. Then head over across the water to the Island and hang out with us :D We're in Nanaimo, on the east coast of the Island, just a ferry ride away. :D

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  23. I read you blog. I know exactly where you live. Don't tell your mom! It's funny, I correspond with a couple of people in your part of the world. It'd be great to meet up in person one of these days.

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  24. Um, and speaking of cold.. we've had exactly one snowfall this winter. Oh, and I think 3 days with frost this past week. It's not THAT cold here Paul :P You survived New York for chrissakes!

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  25. Yeah but New York has the Chrysler Building to warm my heart. You know it's funny, I can count the number of cloudy days we have here every year on one hand. When I go for anything longer than about a day without sunshine the madness starts. It's the weirdest thing. New York wasn't too bad because it was sunny every day. Had it been overcast I'd have come home in a straight jacket. Florida is an enraging place to live. It's crowded, it's expensive and it's filled with idiots. But it has the sun. I think that's what keeps me here.

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