UNIQ∙Ǝ! presents four truly unique 3D printed faucet designs
The products were displayed in Milan during the recent Fuorisalone series of events
In April 2020 UNIQ∙Ǝ! launched a project aimed at a group of designers and architects focusing on creating a revolutionary 3D printed faucet concept. The goal of the project was to liberate faucet design from the formal stereotypes and interpret the new manufacturing paradigm enabled by 3D printing technology.
After a series of meetings, comparisons and interactions with numerous Italian and international designers and architects, 4 professionals agreed to join forces with UNIQ∙Ǝ! creator and founder Giovanni Pitturru, to challenge and measure themselves against limitless design freedom: Dodo Arslan from Dodo Arslan Studio, Cesare Chichi and Mauro Pizzi from 967Arch, Pasquale Piroso from Loft Canova and Gerardo Sannella_MYGG.
UNIQ∙Ǝ!, with its valuable experience in faucet designs and production, acted as supervisor to the development of the proposed ideas, enriching the project with practical and functional observations. Through an intense co-design process, this led to the creation of multiple refined prototypes, preserving the guidance of its creative thinking.
The variety of shapes, finishes and functional solutions selected for each of the 4 faucet designs prove the new possible archetypes for an object that has always repeated the same paradigm. The new possibilities demonstrated by this project have also brought bathroom and kitchen faucets into new expressive territory yet to be explored.
“[What] these projects have been for us, as well as an extraordinarily interesting industrial project, is a research experience that has only just begun and we do not know where it will take us,” commented Creator and Founder Giovanni Pitturru.
“We certainly know that we are only at the beginning and that we are searching for travel companions who want to explore new, untraveled territory, able to astound us and, above all, [astound] those who will be able to experience these new solutions in their own homes”.
Fior di Loto by 967Arch
The project to create new faucet designs and concepts is, without a doubt, among the most difficult design challenges. Metal 3D printing technology has facilitated the research and proposition of a new water supply concept which conquers the traditional limitations dictated by the existing technology.
The objective was to obtain a simple and legible shape and, at the same time, astound viewers from the surprise of its functional purpose, enhancing the unique and essential technology of the project. The summary of this research is a broken pipe that becomes a generating force.
The design originated from the formal research of expressive simplicity, inspired by the basic element which carries water: a simple tube that turns into an object and therefore into a small sculpture. The alliance and the contraposition between a technical element and a geometrical one, in addition to natural elements, are the formal result of this research.
UNIQ-Ǝ! was presented as a challenging technological opportunity and completely cutting edge, raising the bar for a new design approach to the project.
The company assisted in every development phase, from the concept phase to the prototype development until product completion, by transferring the design concept into a product, through the experience gained in the sanitary fittings field as well as in 3D printing technology.
INK_ circular gesture by Gerardo Sannella_MYGG
INK is a faucet born from the idea of transforming the liquid movement of a circular ink brushstroke into a steady and implacable sign, in which hot and cold water flow can find their eternal balance.
The circle, as a new faucet shape, erases the prosaic story of this common object, in order to renovate it, capturing the poetic spirit of the primeval struggle between cold and heat as it eternally springs from the earth. The absoluteness of the circle translates the stable power of the cosmic balance.
Following the clash between hot and cold, the outlet gushes the now-pacified water from a bamboo spout, the most natural, almost human part of this product. The water offers itself like a fountain stream pouring wellness and new life into human hands.
“Speaking with Giovanni,” commented Gerardo Sannella of MYGG, “meant to explore the ‘Possible’ and its Potentials. With him, the conquest of this particular future dedicated to the world of faucets is true pioneering euphoria, a design adventure to examine and discover the ‘New’.”
Iscla by Dodo Arslan
Facing the limitless possibilities offered by Selective Laser Melting technology, designer Dodo Arslan focused on functionality, safety and sanitation. He, therefore, suggested an entire range of Iscla (isle) faucets with a shelf surface (for soap, toothpaste, mousse, shampoo, etc), easy to rinse and clean with streamlined shapes and integrated controls.
The UNIQ-Ǝ! team extended a new request: incorporating electronic controls. Analyzing standard electronic controls proposed by the team, Arslan decided to develop specific commands, fully integrated into an even more essential and synthetic shape, only possible thanks to the versatility of SLM technology.
“We are only at the beginning of the journey, but we know exactly where we want to go. This 3D printed faucet prototype is only a taste of the range of products we are developing in record time and that we are planning to launch in the next coming months,” Arslan said.
“UNIQ-Ǝ!, as the name says, was born to excel,” Arslan continued. “Mr. Pitturru is number one; he started in this industry very young, working alongside the Engr. Porsche for the realization of their exclusive faucet. Our very first meeting was enough to understand that we would be challenging each other, propelling ourselves on the innovation accelerator.”
“Every meeting was exhilarating because he is the kind of entrepreneur who exalts himself at every step of development, yet [he] also knows full well [that] you have already thought of the modifications in the next phase and sometimes he even anticipates you, asking to do that very thing which kept you awake the night before…Those are the moments you understand you are in the right place at the right time!” Dodo Arslan concluded.
Mirella di Pasquale Piroso
An architect designs and creates places and objects for people, to learn, live, work, and live life to the fullest. Professionals create each project, inspired by mere gestures, which both reflect and encompass meaning and reason to its story. These are the foundations to imagine a new era and create new shapes, concepts and meanings. When you create a new product, the concept must state its purpose, without forgetting its duty as a communicative object of emotion and pleasure.
The project’s source of inspiration derives from the simplicity of material transformation, that is to say, stainless steel, which through UNIQ-Ǝ!’s additive manufacturing, becomes easy to model and transform, like long, braided hair blowing in the wind.
The project is an homage to the beauty of femininity and its sinuosity, as well as the possibility of being able to dare to shape its form while using a manufacturing technology that has no processing waste.
This project began after designer Pasquale Piroso met with Giovanni and shared a common passion of excellence and a desire to combine technology and creativity. “His indisputable experience and professionalism, and especially his love for beauty, connected us from the beginning,” Piroso said. “The meeting with UNIQ-Ǝ! and the contemporaneity of a project for a luxurious villa on Lake Lugano gave life to the start to this unique 3D printed faucet product.”
