NEWS & PRESS RELEASES
Roca receives the highest award (‘Best of the best’) at the Red Dot 2019 design awards for the basin collection designed by Ruy Ohtake
16.07.2019
The collection by the Brazilian architect Ruy Ohtake has been developed with Roca’s exclusive material Fineceramic® and is made up of four models with organic lines and a timeless style.
The ‘Best of the best’ award is the most important prize at the Red Dot Design Award, the most prestigious international design competition.
Roca, world leader in the production, design and distribution of products for the bathroom space, has received the highest prize at the Red Dot international design awards, with the best innovative design in the ‘Bathroom and sanitary equipment’ category and a ‘Best of the best’ award for the basin collection designed by the renowned Brazilian architect Ruy Ohtake.
Created for the Brazilian market, the collection stands out for its timeless and organic design, inspired by the shapes of nature; in particular, the curves of waves, the horizon line and the purest form in design, the egg. Ohtake has developed four basin models, each one of them available in four matt colors (White, Graphite, Dark Brown, Black) as well as in the traditional Gloss White.
The entire collection has been developed with the Fineceramic® technology, exclusive at Roca: an ultrafine ceramic material with a thickness of 5 mm, which allows the production of pieces that are 40% lighter and 30% more resistant than conventional basins, with very fine and defined walls that offer greater design possibilities. In the architect’s words, "I like the curved element because I find it more difficult than a straight line. The look of a curve is unpredictable, allowing for different perceptions.” This is the first product line for the bathroom space designed by Ohtake, who has been able to express his renowned architectural style in these basins.
The Red Dot Award is one of the most prestigious international design competitions, with over 60 years of history. The award ceremony of the Red Dot 2019 awards took place in Essen, Germany, and among the winners are also brands such as Apple, Samsung, Ferrari or Sony. Over 5,500 products from designers and manufacturers from 55 different countries have been submitted this year. An international jury made up of 40 experts in different disciplines has selected and assessed each one of the proposals to end up choosing the winning projects in each category; among them, they also choose the ‘Best of the best’.
The Red Dot ‘Best of the best’ is an important recognition that joins those received by Ruy Ohtake’s collection for Roca in 2018, led by the ‘International Design Awards’ (IDA), with the Honor Award in the Product Design category; or the ‘Best in Show’ to the best vitreous china displayed at the Expo Revestir trade fair in São Paulo.
Ruy Ohtake’s collection is an example of Roca’s historic vocation of collaborating with the most prestigious international architects and designers in the joint development of exclusive collections and other internationally acclaimed projects. In product design, Roca has collaborated with Gabriele & Oscar Buratti, David Chipperfield, Ramon Benedito, Belén and Rafael Moneo, Schmidt & Lackner, Javier Mariscal or Giorgio Armani, with whom it has developed the Armani/Roca brand. These collaborations, together with Roca’s vocation of design and innovation, contribute to the progress of the bathroom space and to the definition of new trends in the sector.