Nendo makes a splash with new designs for Flaminia

Nendo ceramic basin and ceramic lamp — 'Box' wash-basin and 'Tub-Lamp' by Nendo for Flaminia

(Image credit: Courtesy Flaminia)

The Italian bathroom manufacturer Flaminia has harnessed the stellar talents of Nendo to sprinkle a little stardust over its 70th anniversary celebrations. It is a collaborative relationship that has worked wonders for the brand since 2010 –combining the Italian rigour of ceramic sanitaryware with the whimsical imagination of Oki Sato’s studio. (Indeed, Flaminia’s creative director, the legendary star-maker Giulio Cappellini, was one of the earliest patrons of Nendo when the fledgling studio first ventured to Milan.)

Fast-forward almost two decades and, during Fuorisalone 2024, Flaminia launched two new product families from Nendo, first in the brand’s flagship at via Solferino, and later in the week at a special event titled ‘Nendo in the Stars’ in a Porto Nuova penthouse with panoramic views over the city.

First up is ‘Box’ – a series of countertop ceramic washbasins available in a range of colours, inspired by the curiously compelling activity of unboxing. Nendo’s nod here to the process of opening packaging comes in the form of two gently protruding wings that grace each edge of the rectangular or square basin. As ever with Nendo, the witty device has a canny, practical dimension too; the wings catch any rogue sideways splashes. Elegance and efficiency combined.

One of the blessings of a lengthy collaborative relationship between brand and studio is the cumulative trust that builds, which in turn encourages the pushing of boundaries and perhaps even the breaking of new ground. Evidence here comes in Nendo’s second project: ‘Tub-Lamps’, whereby the studio has literally turned an idea on its head. Taking familiar round sink and oval bathtub forms, Nendo has upended them and created a range of shapely, curvaceous, stroke-able, ambient lamps, for the bathroom or elsewhere.

Exploring the world of lighting is a first for Flaminia – but why not? Such is the beauty of long-lasting relationships built on trust; you never know where they might take you next. Seventy years on and fresh as ever.

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Hugo is a design critic, curator and the co-founder of Bard, a gallery in Edinburgh dedicated to Scottish design and craft. A long-serving member of the Wallpaper* family, he has also been the design editor at Monocle and the brand director at Studioilse, Ilse Crawford's multi-faceted design studio. Today, Hugo wields his pen and opinions for a broad swathe of publications and panels. He has twice curated both the Object section of MIART (the Milan Contemporary Art Fair) and the Harewood House Biennial. He consults as a strategist and writer for clients ranging from Airbnb to Vitra, Ikea to Instagram, Erdem to The Goldsmith's Company. Hugo recently returned to the Wallpaper* fold to cover the parental leave of Rosa Bertoli as global design director, and is now serving as its design critic.