Overflowing With Luxurious Modern Design: KÄSCH Tubs & Whirlpools

above: Oriental Overflow whirlpool tub by Kasch

KÄSCH (or Kaesch as it's called in the US) is an internationally renowned manufacturer of exclusive acrylic bathtubs and whirlpools, largely for upscale hotels. Their products feature timeless, elegant design combined with uncompromising quality in materials and workmanship. They carry three lines of tubs; Freestanding, Overflow and Takiyu.

Their Overflow and Takiyua whirlpool tubs in particular are truly lust-worthy. And those are the ones I've chosen to share with you today.

The Overflow collection's name describes the product feature that makes it so desirable - the water flows back into the basin in a seemingly endless cycle as it spills over the edge that is so neatly flush with the floor. The whirlpool tubs can can be outfitted with color changing lights and music making it a complete soothing sensory experience. The Overflow line comes in six styles:

ORIENTAL:

POND:


WISH:



CHI:


FLOAT:



LAKE:






Along with bathing in mineral springs, bathing in the pool of a waterfall - TAKIYU - has a long tradition in Japan. Even in earliest times in Asia, waterfalls in hidden mountain areas were pilgrimage places for individual bathing rituals. The TAKIYU concept is based on the combination of a waterfall with the massaging effects of air-water jets, enhanced by colored lighting. This model supports physical and psychological regeneration. Water continually flows in a closed cycle from beneath a decorative covering, falling gently into the tub.

There are ten models in the Takiyu line:

SQ180:


RT200/RT220:


RT190:


RT912/RT915:


CS200:


OV190:


RO170:


CN160:



KÄSCH GmbH
Dorfstraße 2
85737 Ismaning b. München
Germany
telephone +49 (0) 89 92 98 98 82
fax +49 (0) 89 961 27 41
info-europe@kaesch.biz
web: www.kaesch.biz

Kaesch USA, Inc.
Sarasota Fl. 34232
info@kaesch-usa.com
telephone (941) 554-6852
fax (941) 343-1059

The Archipod. Round and Radical Prefab Office Space.

In the interest of fairness (and interesting blogging), I've featured a fabulous Polyhedron shaped office and garden pod, so now, I have to give some press to this wonderful round one!




The Archipod is a prefabricated red cedar shingle-clad insulated structure that opens with a gullwing door. The spherical unit is complete with a built in ergonomic desk, drawers , porthole windows and skylight and is wired with dimmable lights, an electric heater, outlets, a phone line and even a smoke alarm!




The Archipod has a porthole window which allows the natural light to come in and one can order special custom drawers and hardwood veneered desktops. Carpet is also available by request.

The gullwing front door, which has gas strut assistance, comes with a push handle and deadlock:


The curved built in desk measures just over 10 feet and is available in 30 different colors of Marmoleum® linoleum:


The structure is prefabricated in sections that are sized to allow all the parts to be carried through a house, so it doesn’t matter where you live, we will be able to get the ‘Pod’ into your back garden.

Because of its unique shape and the generous natural light from the roof dome, the ‘Pod’ actually looks bigger on the inside than the outside.






'The Pod' Floor Plan & Specs:

Size: 2.9m diameter internally at the widest point x 2.5m to top of dome.
Walls:
* Curved plywood structural box with encapsulated fibreglass insulation, plasterboard finish internally on high performance foil insulation and vapour barrier to a standard that exceeds current building regulations.
* Fully plastered and decorated after installation, so no visible internal jointing strips.
External cladding:
* Western Red Cedar shingles, blue label grade, on breathable waterproof membrane on battens.
* Cedar shingles are available treated or untreated.
Glazing:
* fatpod section1.0m diameter hinged double skin polycarbonate roof dome to maximise natural light and ventilation.
* Double glazed stainless steel porthole window.
Electrics:
* 8nr Dimmable spotlights
* Concealed background mood lighting, separately switched from spotlights.
* 3nr 13amp Power outlets (these can be extended below the desk using the cable management to provide more outlets.)
* Electric panel heater
* Consumer Unit with MCB’s for power and lighting. (Connection to the house or mains supply is not included – we recommend that an RCD is fiited to the supply end of the incoming SWA cable)
* Data outlet for connection of phone lines
* Smoke alarm
* Fused spur or socket for connection of a security alarm)
Desk:
* An ergonomic semicircular desk, 700mm deep and an effective curved length of 3.1m, finished in a range of ‘Marmoleum® Real’ colours to the customers choice, with 2 cable grommets in the top and cable management below. (see the full range of available Marmoleum® Real and Dual colours, go here)
* Bespoke drawer units and hardwood wood veneered desktops are available by special request.
Floor:
* Suspended timber floor with 70mm fibreglass insulation and high performance quilt.
* Floor covering is generally not included, as this enables customers to choose to suit their own requirements. However, we can provide fitted carpet if required. We recommend that carpet is fitted with underlay to improve comfort and acoustics.
Foundations:
* Concrete pads or steel posts, depending onpon ground conditions.
Door:
* Top hinged gullwing door, with gas strut assistance
* Push handles and deadlock.


For further info
archipod
Director: Chris Sneesby
Registered Office: Unit 4, Handley Park
Elvington Ind Est
York Road, Elvington
North Yorkshire, YO41 4AR

Email: info@archipod.co.uk

Seeing Skulls. James Hopkins' Vanitas.

above: James Hopkins, Decadence and Demise, 2006 (image courtesy of hamburger-kunsthalle)

Skulls, skulls, skulls. They are everywhere these days. But Artist James Hopkins at least has a diference take on them. He has a series of mixed media pieces called Vanitas in which random objects and furniture are composed to create the image or illusion of human skulls.

The term "Vanitas" (sometimes the term "Momento Mori" is used in its place) comes from a practice in which Dutch painters put symbolic imagery of death into their still lives during the 17th century.


above: Last Chord, James Hopkins

Hopkins has created a contemporary version of the practice and is quoted in a Wallpaper Magazine interview in 2006 as saying: ‘I think of vanity when I see my image in the mirror, of knowledge when I read a book, and of indulgence when I drink wine or play music; but all of these things are lost in acknowledgment of seeing the skull reveal itself.’

Black Still Life, 2007 and Consumption & Consequence, 2006:

Design for Life, 2006 and Prosperity & Decay, 2006:

Wasted Youth, 2006 and Shelf Life, 2006:


However, says Hopkins, ‘I don’t want people to think of these works as being negative or morbid — in fact, they should be read as a celebration of life.’

In addition to this work, John Hopkins has many wonderful pieces. See more of his work here.


Another collection inspired by the Dutch "Vanitas", if you have not yet seen it, is the chair, ottoman and lamp by Vladi Rapoport: