“Luxury spaces especially need something distinctive, that makes them creative and individual.”Masquespacio
For its “Make it yours!” campaign, AXOR invited the Valencia-based design studio's founders - Ana Milena Hernández Palacios of Columbia and Christophe Penasse of Belgium - to design a bathroom concept for a unique hotel suite that embodies their vision of personal luxury. The designers’ response, titled, “Utopian Dream,” is a high-ceilinged, 20 square-meter space that balances neoclassical and futuristic influences.
Conceived as the bathroom of a luxury hotel in a developing metropolis, ‘Utopian Dream’ reflects the designers’ love of travel, transcending the ordinary to present a space of harmony, reflection and wonder. Palacios and Penasse underlined their concept with an array of AXOR products in Polished Black Chrome, including wash basin faucets and a floor-standing bath faucet from the AXOR Starck collection, the new AXOR Suite basins and bathtub, the new AXOR ShowerComposition shower panel, and the AXOR Universal Rectangular Accessories, all designed by Philippe Starck. The new AXOR Drain, also finished in Polished Black Chrome, serves as a finishing touch to this stunning concept.
For Palacios, a regular visitor of foreign locales, the hotel suite’s urban setting triggered a journey of the imagination. “The first thing I did was close my eyes and start to travel,” she says. “I traveled to big cities in the world, where you have skyscrapers, and these environments are stunning and really modern.” Palacios’ vision is expressed in the use of materials such as sealed concrete, oak and steel, and in the presence of towering lancet windows that reflect the skyscrapers beyond. At the same time, the notion of an emerging metropolis, one that is still in development, freed the designers to experiment with new and unexpected materials such as brushed aluminum and iridescent chrome foil.
Another key element of the design vocabulary is the striking interaction of colors and surfaces. For Masquespacio, it all began with the choice of Polished Black Chrome, one of the exclusive AXOR FinishPlus surfaces. “We had a clear idea of what color we wanted the AXOR products to be,” Penasse says, “and in our projects it’s important that everything is balanced and we don’t just pick something. So we made the color of the faucets the starting point.”
At the same time, the Polished Black Chrome of the faucets creates a dynamic interplay with the red reflections of the surrounding city, enhanced by the shiny chrome pillars. Concrete floors and brushed aluminum surfaces help provide the balance that Penasse mentions, as do the AXOR Suite washbasins and bathtub. Made with white Solid-Surface material, the AXOR Suite products also feature Polished Black Chrome elements, bringing a personalized touch to their clean and timeless forms.
Bold but balanced, ‘Utopian Dream’ offers a distinctive, immersive space in which its user can truly detach from the outer world. But how does it fulfill the designers’ conceptions of luxury? “In our work, we always take something from the past, something from the present and something from the future,” says Palacios. “But the space always needs to have something that stands out, that is creative, personalized.” In this case, the products of AXOR perfectly meet these requirements, the designers note. But Penasse adds, “It’s also wellbeing at the end. And quality is important for that. And I think that’s where products like AXOR come in.”
Ana Milena Hernández Palacios and Christophe Penasse founded their design consultancy, Masquespacio, in Valencia in 2010. Translated as ‘More than Space’, Masquespacio takes a fresh approach to every project, producing eclectic, colorful interiors that are always unique. In addition to designing spaces for restaurants, hotels and major brands on four continents, Palacios and Penasse create artisanal furniture and objects under their Mas Creations label. They have garnered numerous international awards, including the ‘Young Talent of the Year’ award from Elle Decoration in 2020.
