Making waves: colour and creativity at this year's ISH bathroom fair

Antolini showed their new stone colours through wavy landscapes

(Image credit: press)

last updated 31 October 2022

The world's most popular bathroom biennial, ISH, invited spectators to be more imaginative with the way we set up our sanitary rooms this year. With new versatile shapes, materials and colours, the evolution of the bathroom as a living space - rather than pure utility - continues.

Among our top picks were German bathroom players, Dornbracht and their modern experiment. They presented a new glass washbasin in their new CL.1 range with an adaptable bowl that allowed patterns created by 40 individual tap jets to be visualised, whilst being able to be placed upon - and against - any surface. Also introducing new materials to their range was Duravit, with their collection by Philippe Starck, Cape Cod. The fresh oceanic range included structured wooden and chrome vanity consoles to match washbasins.

On the colour front, Ceramica Flaminia brought a darker shade to the set-up, with new two-toned versions of the 'Roll' range by Nendo. The foldout standing sinks came in a chic monochrome scheme, with a black exterior and the classic white ceramic inside. Italian brand Cielo featured the same palette with chalky black and grey curved sinks, whilst Valdama added brighter hues to proceedings. The Civita Castellana-based brand and first time ISH-goer brought a colourful splash to its ceramic sinks with sunny yellows and earthy greens.

As always, the fair took pride in its technical innovations. Our favourite was the long awaited, fully-fledged SaphirKeramik collections by Konstantin Gricic and Toan Nguyen for Laufen. Using ultra-thin ceramic, the designers added clean structured bathtubs to their detailed bowl washbasins and trays. Grohe also showed a pioneering design with subterranean bathtubs, allowing the feature to neatly (and literally) become a part of your bathroom, staying hot even longer through clever insulation. Now that, we could really sink into…

White sink in bathroom — Axent's new oval bath and sinks were a perfect symmetry

These crystal blue cube knobs were Baccarat's latest jewel

Burgbad introduced a multipurpose wall unit that works as a storage unit and room divider

A monochrome look with new sinks in hues of chalky greys and black — Cielo went for a monochrome look with their new sinks in hues of chalky greys and black

Dornbracht's new glass sink for bathroom — Dornbracht's new glass sink is a refreshing addition to any bathroom cupboard

Duravit's latest collection by Philippe Starck is inspired by the Cape Cod sea

Nendo wrapped up black and white standalone sinks in their new design for Ceramica Flaminia

Grohe's new, soft padded bath can keep the water warm for four hours and is said to keep bubbles alive for five

A deep bowl sink in pure white — Inbani has released a deep bowl sink in pure white. A perfect fit for any bathroom

White bathtub with copper tap — A new bath designed for Kaldewei

The white Ino sink — The Ino sink, seamlessly designed by Toan Nguyen for Laufen, is all you need in one single piece

Bathtub with built-in storage — Built-in storage in Roca's elegant and pragmatic bath allows you to show off all your

Bathroom with white commode and wood textured tiles — Toto's new toilet features

New Spanish brand Valdama is a clear favourite with their contemporary shapes and colours

(Image credit: press)

Sujata Burman is a writer and editor based in London, specialising in design and culture. She was Digital Design Editor at Wallpaper* before moving to her current role of Head of Content at London Design Festival and London Design Biennale where she is expanding the content offering of the showcases. Over the past decade, Sujata has written for global design and culture publications, and has been a speaker, moderator and judge for institutions and brands including RIBA, D&AD, Design Museum and Design Miami/. In 2019, she co-authored her first book, An Opinionated Guide to London Architecture, published by Hoxton Mini Press, which was driven by her aim to make the fields of design and architecture accessible to wider audiences.