Our tips for creating traditional contemporary bathrooms
Good news! Creating a timeless Mid Century Modern bathroom is easier than you think! In this article we touch on the key elements of the popular style that marked the halfway point of the 20th century and has remained a firm favourite ever since.
Emerging in the 1950s, post-war prosperity gave way to an elegant and functional style with subtle echoes of Art Deco still intact. From Europe, architects and interior designers adopt a position of ‘form follows function’, developing highly functional, aesthetically paired back homes and furniture. Originating from the German Bauhaus school, a new design philosophy that combines design and social change. Masterfully reinterpreted in the United States, this striking design language reached worldwide dimensions and has been popular ever since. With sober colours and sleek lines spanning fixtures and bathroom furniture, Roca’s take on Mid Century Modern style offers exciting opportunities for traditional contemporary bathrooms.
Symbiosis with nature
A sensitivity towards nature is a key aspect of the Mid Century Modern style, playing with shapes and spaces to maximise the benefits of natural light. In terms of materials, wood is a must of bathroom furniture, with marble the optimum choice for countertops, floor and walls.
Sophisticated simplicity
Essential to achieving a traditional contemporary bathroom look is Mid Century Modern’s resistance to unnecessary ornamental detail and favouring elegant simplicity instead. Bathroom accessories with pure, unfussy finishes that retain innovation and style, such as the Insignia collection, is a great choice to achieve the minimalist look. Built-in bathroom taps, or those from the Loft collection with their striking cross-shaped handles, create the perfect balance of sophisticated simplicity.
Passion for geometry
The influence of North American Art Deco on Mid Century Modern bathrooms is most felt through the emphasis on geometry. Decorative elements such round mirrors, found in the Iridia collection, the extremely fine curves of Inspira’s Fineceramic® basins and strong angles of the Dama WC, provide ways to capture geometrical character of the Mid Century Modern traditional contemporary bathroom.
Maximum functionality
True to its original principles of ‘form following function’, contemporary interpretations of Mid Century Modern design place emphasis on efficiency and ergonomics. Roca have developed bathroom furniture with shorter or slightly tilted legs to reinforce stability. Other examples of form following function can be found in the practical push opening of the Beyond base units, and in the material choice of cast-iron for the Eliptico bathtub – chosen in order to keep your bath water warmer for longer.
Visible structures
Finally, in its aim to highlight functionality, another quality of Mid Century Modern style is to display the soul of a design – or in other words be transparent about its mechanisms and inner workings. An excellent example of this approach to elegance is Prisma’s metallic basin structure.
