12 beautiful bathrooms
Kanye West, Drake and Tadao Ando's Circular Public Toilet
September 25th, 2020
Trend led without a doubt by the Kardashian sisters, who between a group photo and one in the company of their respective husbands, have transformed the bathroom selfie into a phenomenon capable of living even outside the walls of the Met, arriving in the bathrooms of the house or in those of an aeroplane, as evidenced by Kim's famous Airplane bathroom selfie. The success of the photo in the bathroom has overturned the natural order, making the first shot become synonymous with loneliness and lack of friends in a social phenomenon; the bearer of socially useful messages, such as the protest staged by the American transgender community in 2017, or of less serious problems, such as the request of the Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah not to take too much bathroom selfies in the bathrooms of their rooms.
The search for beauty has become the common thread that unites bathroom selfies, the same one that has led celebrities to revolutionize their bathroom at home, which has gone from being the private place of each tenant to a photographic set to be proudly displayed on social media. Also, in this case, the Kardashian family was not caught unprepared with the bathroom designed by Axel Vervoordt and Claudio Silvestrin for the villa in Calabasas by Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, a geometric space with enormous ceiling lighting and green space that looks out from the side windows. Another Kardashian and another bathroom for Kourtney, who for the one of her Californian home has entrusted herself to Martyn Lawrence Bullard, former author of Khloé Kardashian's all-marble bathroom.
Among the most loved names by celebrities, there is undoubtedly that of Kallista, the brand founded by Anthony Pontin and Norman Bell became a regular presence in the bathrooms of American stars. Will Ferrell chose it for the bathroom mirrors in his Manhattan apartment made by the Shawn Henderson Interior Design studio, while Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady for the sinks in their bathroom equipped, among other things, with a fireplace. The idea of making the bathroom a complete space, capable of going beyond the morning routine, is a now common trend, that of an alternative living room in which to relax in your own home privacy. This is the case of Jennifer Aniston, who transformed one of the bathrooms of her house in Beverly Hills into a real Spa built by hand with the decorator Stephen Shadley; but also of Drake, who used marble in his mega villa in Toronto Nero Marquina to transform the bathroom into a huge dressing room complete with a Rafauli armchair.
The idea of a bathroom as a single space, however, does not stop at the home but also embraces the world of public toilets. Here obviously the needs are different from those of any celebrity, with luxury and pomp that leave room for comfort and privacy in an environment where space must be enhanced without forgetting the artistic and architectural value. For the public bathroom of the Parque Urquiza in Rosario, the architect Diego Jobell created a space "hidden" in the existing landscape, creating a functional and practical environment. The Jacky Suchail Architects studio did the same in the Tête d'Or Park in Lyon, which to create eight public bathrooms wanted to think of a space capable of getting lost in the green of the French park thanks to its sober lines and the use of wood.
Whether they are public or private, the bathroom has now become a new reference for luxury and style, the space that most of all must satisfy the needs of those who use it. A modern living room in which pomp and functionality must often go hand in hand in a constant search for architectural flickering to create the perfect space for any time of day. From morning to bathroom selfie.