The Bathroom, Reconsidered: How Axor Reimagined the Most Intimate Room in the Home

At Milan Design Week, Axor offered a glimpse into two new collections — by Antonio Citterio and Barber Osgerby — that approach the bathroom from different directions but land in much the same place: as a room for ritual, not just utility

Working with celebrated designers such as Philippe Starck, Patricia Urquiola, Barber Osgerby and Antonio Citterio, Axor has long built its identity around precision-engineered bathroom fittings and a sustained interest in how architectural thinking and material detail shape bathroom spaces.

At this year’s Milan Design Week, the brand, part of the Hansgrohe Group, presented an early look into its latest bathroom collections developed with Citterio and Barber Osgerby, continuing a long-running collaboration with the designers.

For the Axor Incava collection, Citterio takes a subtractive approach. Technical components are recessed within the wall plane and anchored by a slim escutcheon that extends just 11 millimetres from the surface, while flush-integrated buttons control the thermostat and an almost invisible handheld shower appears only when pressed. The detailing is consistent with Citterio’s broader work, where technical complexity tends to disappear behind calm, highly resolved environments built for use and longevity.

Available in multiple configurations for both showers and bathtubs, the collection also includes a recessed storage niche — ten centimetres deep, fitted with discreet drainage and a dimmable ambient light.

‘By eliminating protruding parts — no handles, knobs or visible elements — it transforms the bathroom from a technical space into a clear, integrated environment where the ritual of bathing becomes a tranquil experience,’ says Citterio. ‘You move beyond the traditional notion of the bathroom and gain an entirely new spatial quality.’

Axor Archivio by Barber Osgerby takes the opposite position. The London studio foregrounds the hardware rather than concealing it, reworking familiar bathroom typologies — cross handles, curved spouts and bell-shaped bases — through small shifts in proportion, contour and finish.

According to Barber Osgerby, ‘We set out to create a new icon for Axor — an object that’s instantly recognisable and lasting. The collection looks to the past while presenting it through a refined, contemporary lens, achieving a seamless balance between past and future.’

Two handle options anchor the collection: a bloom-shaped cross handle and a sculptural lever. Subtle white inlays mark hot and cold in a reinterpretation of traditional fittings. The detailing is carried through basin, bath and shower applications, allowing the collection to sit comfortably across different interiors.

The collections take different routes to a shared position: the bathroom is no longer seen merely as a functional space, but increasingly as one shaped by ritual, retreat and the intimacy of everyday routines — somewhere to not only prepare for the world, but to step back from it.