Equipment design and bathroom interior. A few tips from the maestro of "bath" design, architect, president of the German Club of Designers, the classic of modern design - Dieter Sieger.

Passing the gallery

Text: Alexandra Shapiro

Magazine: N6 (40) 2000

Historiography. Dieter Sieger - architect, president of the German Club of Designers, a classic of modern design. Born in 1938 in Münster, Germany. His biography is a typical story on selfmade. (By the way, Sieger in German is “winner”). Dieter Sieger implemented his first architectural projects while still a student in the architecture department of the School of Arts and Crafts in Dortmund. It was a very busy time. A student who did not have the opportunity to pay for housing directly at the place of study had to go every morning at 6.15, take the train to Dortmund and come back every evening. The trips were financed by selling their own watercolors, and on weekends, and often at night, the future celebrity worked at construction sites, since the rest of the time professors demanded 100% attendance at lectures. One year later, having passed the state exam in architecture, Sieger opened his own architectural office in his hometown. From 1965 to 1976, he designed apartment buildings, family cottages and industrial buildings in Greece, Spain, France, the United States and Saudi Arabia. Soon, Sieger, a passionate navigator and yachtsman, begins to engage in equipping yachts and sailboats for his clients. Bringing modern design elements into the interior of the ships, he decisively put an end to the era of teak and polished brass in shipbuilding. In six years of operation, the Sieger ships become known all over the world. The organization of the living space of the yacht, in particular, the problem of constructing sanitary facilities, eventually led Sieger to the interior design and bathroom equipment. This was a turning point in his career: one of the first to use an integrated approach to bathroom design and develop modular systems for it, the last twenty years, Dieter Sieger is considered one of the best specialists in this direction. Most of his projects are marked by prestigious international awards, and, for example, the Giamo bathroom series, created for Duravit, is included in the collection of the Design Museum in London. Some personal. For Dieter Sieger, the concepts "work" and "life" are synonymous. An old estate (partly reminiscent of a museum where works of outstanding contemporary designers are collected: Šipeka, Sottsassa, Michele de Lucci, Philippe Starck) in North Rhine-Westphalia - both the house and the architectural and design bureau with two hundred employees. Together with Sieger, the elder, his sons work, Christian the manager and Michel the designer. Sieger considers his wife, who constantly accompanies him on all trips, to be a muse and assistant. Venice became the second home for Dieter - at one time it was he who restored the beautiful theater La Fenice destroyed by fire. From his own portraits he prefers only black and white photographs. Recently actively engaged in painting, but so far no gallery owner has managed to convince him to exhibit his work. At the end of March this year, Dieter Sieger visited Moscow for the first time, at the invitation of the Russian company NEXCLUSIVE. There was a place for graphs in the rather dense graphics of the designer: "SALON-interior magazine, interview". Contrary to strict regulations, the conversation dragged on, because Herr Sieger was a very interesting conversationalist. We decided to bring that part of the conversation, which directly concerned the appearance of the bathroom - a topic that is truly inexhaustible and always relevant. So, a few tips from the maestro "bath" design. - Recently, interest in the design of equipment and the interior of the bathroom has noticeably increased. In this respect, international exhibitions and fairs are very indicative. It is worth remembering the international exhibition of plumbing in Frankfurt, the October Abitare il tempo in Verona, where a project called "In the presence of water" was presented, demonstrating modern experimental concepts in this area, or separately announced expositions at the latest Cologne furniture store. What do you think caused such a "surge"? - Of course, all this did not happen yesterday. The bathroom concept began to radically change already fifteen years ago, when it began to gradually turn from a room for hygiene to a room for rest, rest, for reflection, for solitude. And the increased interest is most likely due to the fact that the bathroom is very sensitive to the first changes in the trends in the interior design of the apartment, house, and even in social trends. - For example? - Suppose it used to be thought that priming in a bathroom was an exclusive female privilege. Now men need a separate and equally spacious shelf for perfumery. As for rest, in connection with computerization and technical complication of life, man requires more and more new forms of relaxation. So in the bathroom there are baths of various configurations, a solarium, couches, chairs, stereo installations, a game with light is used. - By the way, on the social aspect: in Russia, the bathroom is considered the “hallmark” of the apartment and, accordingly, works for the prestige of the house owners. Is it different in Germany? - Same. Guest bathroom gets even more elegant than the owners. If the Germans had the opportunity to show their bathroom as often as their car ... - Since the beginning of the two thousandth year, forecasts for the “design of the third millennium” have become very popular. How do you see the bathroom of the near future? - Personally, I will continue to work with clear, classic forms of equipment and accessories. I think that the general attitude will be similar. Today even Philip Stark returns to a simple geometric pattern. - Well, what about equipment engineering, new materials, technologies? - Materials? Dark wood, faience. - Faience? Hasn't acrylic replaced it yet? - My company, of course, produces luxurious acrylic baths, but faience has always been and will be number one. As before, automation will remain popular: maintaining water level, temperature, humidity, and lighting. However, it will not come to full automation: for example, it will still be necessary to open and close the valve manually. A person must maintain natural motor skills. - That is, the process of opening and closing the crane is raised to the level of a traditional ritual, which in no case can be sacrificed to a technological fashion? - Absolutely correct. And in my opinion, great attention should be paid to the light in the bathroom. And not only multi-level lighting, creating a different mood. It is necessary to focus on the lighting modes of the make-up area, which allows a woman in the morning to get light day make-up while going to work, and an exquisite, perhaps a little theatrical, theater or restaurant. - It is impressive when a man is so detailed about the subtleties of female makeup ... - That you, it is very necessary in my profession! Studying new fashion trends is always important. I look at about fifty different magazines a month, and ten of them are about fashion. I was familiar with Versace, I know Lagerfeld, I go to shows with pleasure. - How would you formulate the idea of ​​your design? - I'm a big esthete. As a boy, I went to drink coffee (although I could not afford it) in cafes in large hotels to look at the elegant setting, at the elegant people, at their manners. Now I travel to beautiful cities, I go to the "Jaguar" - for me this is an example of a work: design thought, art, soul. - A whole philosophy, lifestyle. - Yes, and in general, by the attitude and level the design of my bathrooms can be compared