Interview with Günter Horntrich

Günter Horntrich is a professor of ecology and design at Köln International School of Design (KISD). He is founder and managing director of the “yellow design | yellow circle” design agency in Cologne and Pforzheim, as well as a partner of “yellow too” in Berlin. He designed the SensaMare bathroom collection for Hoesch, which the international design experts in this year’s jury awarded with a “red dot: best of the best” for its pioneering design. In an interview he interprets the bathroom of the future.

Professor Horntrich, the SensaMare bathroom collection is characterised by exciting contradictions. What was your inspiration?
Günter Horntrich: Industrial design in a professional sense is the in-depth analysis of target groups, product worlds and social currents. At this level of design, one does not resort to lucky moments of inspiration or wait to be touched by the muse, but rather, through strategic thinking and the adequate realisation of insights, one aims to achieve a precise result. Hence, the formal contrasts defined in the concept are not a consequence of inspiration, but of targeted selection.

You use a mix of wood, acrylic and stainless steel materials. What role do tactile materials such as wood play today in the design of bathrooms?
Günter Horntrich: Materiality has always been an important factor in product optimisation and differentiation. Due to the materials employed, each object develops its very own impact dimension and special physical characteristics. From the very beginning of the design process, continuing the concept of contrasts in the chosen materials was a matter of course.

What will the bathroom of the future look like?
Günter Horntrich: The bathroom of the future will at first glance be less, not more: less complexity, less objects, less disturbance. Therefore, the degree of integration will rise; objects of high simplicity will integrate a variety of functions that are intuitive to use, intensifying the comfort and experience of bathing.

What considerations are particularly important to you in the concept and design of new products?
Günter Horntrich: Meaning and durability. Günter Horntrich is a professor of ecology and design at Köln International School of Design (KISD). He is founder and managing director of the “yellow design | yellow circle” design agency in Cologne and Pforzheim, as well as a partner of “yellow too” in Berlin. He designed the SensaMare bathroom collection for Hoesch, which the international design experts in this year’s jury awarded with a “red dot: best of the best” for its pioneering design. In an interview he interprets the bathroom of the future.

In your opinion, what role does design play against the background of a changing, economically global situation?
Günter Horntrich: Design and brand in the sense of identity and authenticity, history and quality, but also of attitude and style, are product factors that represent the only arguments against the dictum of the price and the mass. The emerging desirability as well as economic power of brand and design also show in the rapid growth of product piracy. Design is therefore the key to optimising added value; however, due to the responsibility this entails, it is also a factor in increasing durability and meaning in the world of objects that surround us.

How would you define good design?
Günter Horntrich: Good design comes about when one continues where other people stop.