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KALLISTA(R) Receives the Chicago Athenaeum Good Design(R) Awards for Juxtapose(TM) by Mick de Giulio and Central Park West(TM) by Robert A.M. Stern Architects

Wednesday, 26 January 2022 10:10 AM

KOHLER, WI / ACCESSWIRE / January 26, 2022 / KALLISTA, announced today that two of its collections' designs received The Chicago Athenaeum Museum GOOD DESIGN Awards. Receiving awards in the Kitchen + Accessories and Bathroom + Accessories categories were the Juxtapose Semi-Professional Kitchen Faucet by Mick De Giulio (image to the right), and Central Park West Sink Faucet by Robert A.M. Stern Associates (image below) respectively. The trademarked awards program was founded in Chicago in 1950 by architects Eero Saarinen, Charles and Ray Eames and Edgar Kaufmann, Jr.

This is the 71st year the Chicago Athenaeum Museum has conducted the Best Consumer Design Products and Graphics GOOD DESIGN awards, reviewing product submissions from over 50 countries. This juried award continues to create a revived awareness about contemporary design and to honor both products and industry leaders in design and manufacturing that have chartered new directions and pushed the envelope for competitive products in the world marketplace.

The awards cover new consumer products, graphics, and packaging designed and manufactured in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North and South America and organized annually by The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design in cooperation with the European Centre for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies. Having awarded over 40,000 GOOD DESIGN awards since its inception, entries included categories in design and innovation, sustainability, creativity, branding, ecologically responsible design, human factors, materials, technology, graphic arts, packaging, and universal design.

KALLISTA JUXTAPOSE™ SEMI-PROFESSIONAL KITCHEN FAUCET BY MICK DE GIULIO

KOHLER CO., Wednesday, January 26, 2022, Press release picture

The Juxtapose Semi-Professional Kitchen Faucet is part of the KALLISTA Juxtapose Collection created in collaboration with Mick De Giulio. Designed to delight both novice and kitchen connoisseur, the collection is comprised of a Single-Hole Semi-Professional Faucet, a Single-Hole Bar Faucet, a Wall-Mount Pot Filler, and a Soap/Lotion Dispenser. The designs are offered in a primary palette of Polished Chrome, Stainless Steel and Matte Black PVD finishes, which are artfully contrasted by Polished Chrome, Polished Nickel, Brushed Moderne Brass or Matte Black accent finishes.

KALLISTA's partnership with De Giulio began in 2011 with the introduction of the Multiere and the Soltiere chef-inspired kitchen sinks and accessories, and the Bacifiore entertainment sink, with the addition of the apron front Bacifiore sink in 2019. With a career that has spanned over four decades, De Giulio approached his KALLISTA faucet designs as he does all his work, with the eye of an artist, the deft hand of a craftsman, and the practicality of an engineer. Aptly named Juxtapose to reference the collection's intriguing mixed-metal finish combinations, the faucets' slim profiles and chic details were designed to "bring the soul back into performance products," explained De Giulio.

"The challenge is always beauty and function," continued De Giulio. "A faucet with extended reach is very important in order to best work with larger sinks like the Multiere. A stronger and more flexible spraying function was also something I wanted to incorporate. The proportions were critical. I've had clients who would say they don't want a large industrial looking faucet in the middle of their beautiful kitchens, but at the same time, those faucets have some advantages of function. By addressing the proportions to be more sleek and pleasing, I wanted it to connect to the Soltiere and Multiere aesthetics. I first designed the semi-professional faucet, which became the centerpiece of the collection, and from that continued the same philosophy and aesthetics for the pot filler and entertainment faucets."

The result is a collection that is modern but warmer, effectively blurring the lines between appropriate scale and form with impeccable functionality. Pivotal to the series is the Juxtapose Semi-Professional Kitchen Faucet, a commanding design with artful elegance and expertly engineered to provide ultimate performance. The faucet head is ergonomically designed to fit comfortably in the hand, with a smooth magnetic docking system which securely locks the faucet head into place when not in use.

The Juxtapose Semi-Pro Kitchen Faucet three-function sprayhead incorporates the latest in Kohler technology:

  • Aerate provides an even stream of waterflow;
  • Kohler Sweep® Spray with specially angled nozzles to create a wide, forceful blade of water for superior cleaning; and,
  • Kohler Boost™ a powerful option that immediately increases the faucet flow rate by 30 percent.

Users can easily move between the sprays with a discreet toggle at the back of the faucet to take on the most arduous tasks with the push of a button.

KALLISTA CENTRAL PARK WEST™ SINK FAUCET BY ROBERT A.M. STERN ARCHITECTS

KOHLER CO., Wednesday, January 26, 2022, Press release picture

KALLISTA and internationally renowned architecture and design firm, Robert A.M. Stern Architects collaborated on Central Park West, a luxe brassware series. The collection boasts multiple sink and bath faucets, a full range of showering components, and complementing accessories; and, designed specifically for Central Park West and a new category for KALLISTA, a shower door handle pull, towel bar, and handle escutcheon that captures the legendary sophistication of early 20th century design. The versatile designs offer a complete bathroom solution to cater to both commercial hospitality and residential audiences.

"Central Park West expresses our firm's modern classical aesthetic, matching the highest end of the market in look, feel, and quality, but makes it more accessible to a broader audience," said Daniel Lobitz, a Partner at Robert A.M. Stern Architects who helps lead the firm's product design initiatives. "We distilled details from historical precedents to establish a distinctive modern yet traditional character. We studied plumbing fixtures from the early 20th century and adapted them to give the Central Park West Collection some of its signature notes: the knurling, for example, on the handles, supports, and spouts; and, of course the monogram-style lettering, perhaps the most explicitly retro part of our design."

Taking centerstage in the Central Park West collection are a series of faucets that resonate with the collection's distinctive design details and the air of craftsmanship that seems to harken back to the elegance and glamour of an earlier era. Appropriately scaled with an understated fluidity of line, the sink faucets boast four design choices - a stylized, elongated U-shaped design with low- and tall-spout heights, a graceful gooseneck, and a sleek wall-mount style. The faucet nozzle is slightly oversized and decorated with a simple fluting. Gently rounded, partially fluted lever handles create an illusionary effect by appearing to pass through the supports, which are appointed with a fluted ring before carrying down to the stepped base. An engraved "H" and "C" centered on the front of each bonnet complete the artisan touches.

"We put a lot of care and effort into the way the faucets sit on the sink-we developed many studies of the transitions and proportions until we got them just right," concluded Lobitz. "The serif font we chose for the faucet markings derives from hand-chiseled lettering on classical monuments dating back to antiquity; it has over many centuries come to signify the timeless connection between the past and the present. We designed the handle so that it appears to slide through the support, like a hand-crafted assembly. The fluting or knurling on the handles is reprised on the support and again at the spout, creating a pulled-together look that unifies the many elements of the collection."

Download images.

About Mick De Giulio

Mick De Giulio has been creating kitchens for distinctive residences throughout the United States and abroad for over 45 years. In addition to residential kitchen design, his body of work includes commercial projects and product design for companies such as Abt Electronics, Kallista (a Kohler company), Meredith Corporation, SieMatic Gmbh, Sub-Zero/Wolf/Cove, and Tech Lighting - a Visual Comfort & Co. brand. De Giulio's work has been extensively featured in the U.S. and abroad in leading design publications including Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, Interior Design, Traditional Home, Germany's Architektur & Wohnen, and Italy's Ottagano. In 2005, he was recognized by Kitchen and Bath Business magazine as one of the 50 most influential people in the kitchen and bath industry over the last 50 years, and in 2016, he was inducted into the Merchandise Mart Hall of Fame, receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to design. Mick is the author of two books on kitchen design - Kitchen Centric (2010, Balcony Press) and Kitchen (2015, Pointed Leaf Press).

About ROBERT A.M. STERN ARCHITECTS

Robert A.M. Stern Architects is an internationally renowned New York-based architecture firm with global experience in commercial, residential, resort, academic, and institutional planning and design, as well as corporate, institutional, and residential interiors. The firm has been involved in product design since the 1980s. The new Central Park West collection for Kallista joins Robert A.M. Stern Architects' other current product collaborations, which currently include a collection of furniture for Ferrell Mittman introduced in 2020; site furniture and lighting for Landscape Forms; lighting for Remains Lighting; tile for Walker Zanger; fabric for Stinson; doors and wall paneling for Lualdi; and garden ornaments and mantelpieces for Haddonstone. The firm's product design initiatives are led by Partners Alexander P. Lamis and Daniel Lobitz together with the firm's Interior Design Directors Lauren Kruegel Siroky and Lawrence Chabra.

About KALLISTA

KALLISTA is known for its designs of luxury plumbing products, offering faucets and fixtures thoughtfully created for tasteful, whole-bath solutions. KALLISTA is available in fine showrooms in major cities throughout the world. KALLISTA, along with sister brands Ann Sacks Tile and Stone, Inc., and Robern mirrored cabinetry and vanities, are wholly owned subsidiaries of Kohler Co.

About Kohler Co.

Founded in 1873 and headquartered in Kohler, Wisconsin, Kohler Co. is one of America's oldest and largest privately held companies comprised of more than 38,000 associates. With more than 50 manufacturing locations worldwide, Kohler is a global leader in the design, innovation and manufacture of kitchen and bath products; luxury cabinetry, tile and lighting; engines, generators, and clean energy solutions; and owner/operator of two, five-star hospitality and golf resort destinations in Kohler, Wisconsin, and St. Andrews, Scotland. Kohler's Whistling Straits golf course recently hosted the 43rd Ryder Cup. The company also develops solutions to address pressing issues, such as clean water and sanitation, for underserved communities around the world to enhance the quality of life for current and future generations. For more details, please visit kohlercompany.com.

CONTACT:

Robin Richter
[email protected]
920-457-4441

SOURCE: Kohler Co.

Topic:
Product Announcements
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