Architektur Engineering Design - aed Stuttgart

Philippe Grohe
Director of the Axor brand at Hansgrohe AG, Schiltach
Famous architects and designers such as Philippe Starck, Patricia
Urquiola, Antonio Citterio, Jean-Marie Massaud and Phoenix
Design design your products. How much space do you give these
designers for their visions and for innovation?
We give our designers as much space as possible because we
want their visions, their perfectionism, their experiences from
different fields. When we work as a good team, we can do
remarkable things. However, a well-developed culture of design
and innovation is necessary to work successfully with designers
like these. That has a long tradition at our company.
Your father Klaus Grohe as well as your brothers Richard and
Nicolas Grohe are also active in the company. What is the secret
of your family business, which has already been very successful
for several generations?
On the one hand, we have an important common denominator
as a family: We all act out of a passion for water, the bathroom
and its products. On the other, an important factor is that we all
are responsible for fields that complement one another, in which
we can move freely and develop. Since we have different emphases
in our work, we learn and profit from each other.
The aed is the first organization in Germany, which deals with a
very wide spectrum of topics from all fields of design – and is also
directed at a public audience. Is such a concept an exception or
will it become the accepted thing?
In principle, Axor has a similar focus, since we also work together
with product designers in the design process, and more and more
with interior designers and architectural designers outside the
boundaries of disciplines. We try to see the bathroom holistically.
One example for this is our current Axor series with Patricia
Urquiola. Here, we combine different disciplines, i. e. spatial and
design aspects together in an interesting way. Since the bathroom
has developed from a mere room for personal hygiene to a room
for nature, a room to retreat to and for the individual, there is a
huge potential for product and interior design in this change in
function and importance.