Left: SaphirKeramik derives its strength Top: For the first time, Laufen’s from its component corundum, a colourless mineral groundbreaking rapid prototypg has created an in found in saphires. exploratory model made of SaphirKeramik. AT THE VANGUARD OF DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY Journalist Dominic Lutyens in discussion products that are elegantly economical and linear. with the Laufen team. What’s more, produ cts made of SaphirKeramik can be manufactured on an industrial scale. WHY DID YOU CREATE SAPHIRKERAMIK? AND WHAT ADVANTAGES DO YOU THINK WHICH HAVE BEEN THE MAJOR MILESTONES IT HAS? FOR LAUFEN SINCE YOU STARTED SELLING SAPHIR The materials used to make ceramic sanitary KERAMIK PRODUCTS IN 2013? ware have remained the same for years yet have We’ve started using high-pressure casting to changed in all other disciplines of product develop manufacture S aphirKeramik. It’s a very industrial ment. This is why we created SaphirKeramik, a technique that allows us to create pieces faster and in new, unique ceramic of unprecedented strength. bigger numbers. When we p roduced the first Sap hir But it’s also malleab le and permits the creation of Keramik collections, we made basins that measured waferthin yet robust walls and tightedge radii of just up to 90 cm. Now we can make them up to 120 cm on 1 to 2 mm. Spacesaving, lightweight and environ an industrial scale. mentally friendly, it gives designers almost limitless freedom to experiment. It allows them to tear up WHAT WERE THE ADVANTAGES OF PRESENTING the rulebook of bathroom design, to create bathroom TOAN AND KONSTANTIN’S NEW DESIGNS AS