NEW YORK — LAUFEN, the Swiss-based designers and manufacturers of contemporary ceramic products and furniture for bathrooms today announced that their new Kartell by Laufen basins made with SaphirKeramik ceramic have won the KB Culture Award 2014.

“As judges we were impressed by LAUFEN’s proprietary SaphirKeramik ceramic and its ability to transform the typical bath basin from a congenially chubby fixture into a svelte piece of sculpture. Freed to design using thin walls and tight corners, architects Ludovica and Roberto Palomba have created a collection of sinks that capitalize on these properties.” Leslie Clagett, Founder and editor of KB Culture and one of this year’s judges.

LAUFEN’s SaphirKeramik is a revolutionary ceramic which allows the production of ultra-thin and precise shapes. Developed over two years, SaphirKeramik is considerably harder and has a greater flexural strength than vitreous or fireclay ceramic.

“We are so honored that the North American marketplace is embracing our new collections and innovations,” said Javier Korneluk, US managing director of LAUFEN. “We are just beginning to discover what else we can do with SaphirKeramik to change the way designers think about ceramic design for bathroom products.”

About The KB Culture Awards 

Each year, KBCULTURE holds up a lens to an exclusive crop of kitchen and bath products, and singles out a select few for recognition in our annual awards program. Rewarding aesthetic excellence and technological innovation is always a pleasure, but there’s more to the evaluation process than a simple thumbs up or down.

Having a well-rounded perspective on the subject is important. An awareness of the history of the industry is indispensable when claims of ‘new’ and ‘improved’ are made. A tangent to this point is the issue of counterfeit or knock-off designs. Imitation may be a form of flattery, but originality demands respect.

More current knowledge is plays a role, too. Tracking global conditions—not just economic indicators but natural resource availability, population demographics, and political developments, as well—can yield significant clues about the future viability of a product. Fleeting novelty or genuine breakthrough: it’s a critical distinction.

In this fifth year of the awards, the judges were KB Culture Founder Leslie Clagett and Rita Catinella Orrell, previously products editor of Architectural Record and current editor of two influential blogs, designythings.com and architects-toybox.com.

About LAUFEN 

Laufen Bathrooms AG is a Swiss company specializing in high end complete bathroom solutions. Laufen’s head offices are located just outside Basel. Established in 1892, it operates internationally manufacturing bathroom ceramics and faucets and distributes furniture, accessories for the bathroom and bathtubs. Laufen employs a workforce of 1,800 with seven factories located in Switzerland, Austria and the Czech Republic and produces 3 million ceramic items per year. It boasts collaborations with important partners like the design companies Kartell and Alessi and internationally well-known designers such as ps+a/Ludovica and Roberto Palomba (Palomba Collection, Kartell by Laufen), Stefano Giovannoni (ILBAGNOALESSI One), Wiel Arets (ILBAGNOALESSI dOt), Hartmut Esslinger/Frog Design, Platinum Design, Phoenix Design, Platinum Design and Process Design. For additional information, contact DRS and Associates at 818.981.8210 or www.drsandassociates.com.