This is about obtaining a di

fferent level of

consciousness. Consider, for example, scented

candles. Today there are ever more of these.

They are, of course, a very simple trigger.

But the interesting thing is that fragrance

outwits our cognitive system. You smell

something and are immediately in a different

emotional state. It’s a trigger that reaches

more quickly into the subconscious. At the

same time, these days we also have ever

greater difficulty in “letting go”, despite the

fact that we recognise how important this is

for us. In this context, I believe that the e

ffect

of sound is largely underestimated.

In principle, it works in a similar way to

fragrance. This is why people go to disco­

theques. To dance in exhilaration, in a trance.

Or at least to forget everyday life a little.

Now, of course I do not want to go into the

bathroom and listen to Techno or Trance.

However, you can very quickly access the

subconscious with the right sound structures.

Think, for example, of the 1970s and Brian

Eno. Or John Cage. This is still a very special

area of the avant­garde. I am equally fasci­

nated by the singing bowls made from pure

brass that are found in Tibetan Temples.

These bowls have an incredible density,

simplicity and purity. “Noises for Ritual

Architecture” is not about listening to music

in the classical sense. It is more about a room

temperature, a perfume, that you are really

184

only consciously aware of once it is over. You

go in and immediately feel embraced by a

kind of energy field. There are no conventional

harmonic progressions. Sometimes it is simply

noise. That is the reason for the title “Noises

for Ritual Architecture”. It is not like a mas­

sage, where you feel as if you are going to fall

asleep because you hear a beautiful harmony

of the spheres or waves. Rather, you feel: here

comes a sound from the future, that forms a

kind of microcosm. Weaving the threads of a

tale that is so abstract that it inspires you to be

creative yourself, to fantasise.

“The ritual

bathroom is, in

principle, a kind of

architectural

amplifier, which

makes the formal

message of

the fittings even

clearer.”

At your instigation, a collaboration was also

set up between Dornbracht and the renowned

ETH Zurich. The objective was announced

as “The development of a discourse on ritual

architecture on the international architectural

scene”.

The MEM bathroom received a lot of attention

on the architectural scene. Maybe that was

one of the triggers that gave the bathroom a

new priority on the agenda for architects.

At this moment in time, Professor Marc

Angélil from ETH Zurich was also involved

with this issue. Dornbracht initiated a research

term on ritual architecture. The students

developed fascinating approaches. For example,

one student even conceived a “Smart House”.

The idea did not exist at the time. Today, it is

on everyone’s lips, because we are confronted

with digital interfaces in almost all areas.

One last question that follows on from this,

Mr Meiré. How is the theme of “Ritual Archi­

tecture in the Bathroom” going to develop, in

your opinion? What impact will increasing

digitalisation have, for example?

It has to be said that Steve Jobs created a real

breakthrough with the iPhone and especially

with the App Store. Today, we no longer talk

about the design of the iPhone, we expect it to

be state of the art, to be ever flatter and faster,

we expect that the battery lasts longer and

that the systems are updated. We know that

we are the “Beta Generation”. Thus, the

interesting thing is that we are identifying our

preferences through the App Store, like never

before. I think today that the special feature

of the digital revolution is the move towards

more conscious individuality. I find this really

fascinating. Dornbracht is moving in this

direction with SMART WATER, for example.

Technology as the basis for maximum indi­

viduality. This is the trend.

IT

Signor Meiré, Lei alcuni anni fa, a partire

dalla serie di rubinetterie MEM, ha fissato

il concetto di “architettura rituale in bagno”.

Quale ne è stato il fattore scatenante?

Si è trattato di una qualificazione. Avevamo

preso atto che un bagno in linea di principio

non è solo destinato a funzioni specifiche

di depurazione, ma può offrire molto di più.

In quanto vero e proprio spazio vitale. Si ha

la doccia o la vasca da bagno, il lavabo, forse

il gabinetto, il bidet. In generale tutte zone

con una funzione concreta. Questi spazi

riconducono a determinate sequenze di

azioni, a rituali. Mi sono chiesto se fosse

possibile arricchire tali rituali di una compo­

nente più mentale. Il bagno come spazio,

in cui quindi non si effettua solo l’igiene del

corpo, bensì come luogo, in cui si possono

esplorare determinate esperienze quotidiane.

Una sorta di purificazione mentale. Il posto

per appropriarsi di se stessi, il proprio tempio.

Solitamente il bagno una volta non aveva

nemmeno una finestra. Cosa succede allora

se si annette questo spazio a un giardino, a un

Noise 1 MEM

patio? Se con la luce si genera una rilettura

complementare della purificazione e della

rigenerazione? Cosa succede se si attribui­

scono al bagno qualità che ci invitano a

soffermarsi? Precisamente in una sorta di

ricarica di energia.

185

Dai tempi di MEM Lei ha progettato le

architetture rituali più disparate con punti

chiave assolutamente diversi. MEM puntava

più sulla contemplazione – lo abbiamo già

ribadito –, TARA LOGIC invece sulla fisicità

e sulla vitalità. Attualmente vediamo l’archi­

tettura per la serie DEQUE che è piuttosto

“scultura del bagno” che non suddivisione

dello spazio in senso vero e proprio. Come

affronta i singoli progetti? Come effettua la

scelta dell’orientamento?