Biography

With 30 years of success and an impressive class of high-caliber designers, Aldo Provini consistently implements a balance between creativity and practical applications for his company. Rapsel [1637], the world’s leading architecture and design firm for luxury bath products, always keeps in mind the functionality of their products while applying contemporary and innovative designs. With immense awards and high accolades from the industry, Mr. Provini’s mantra for Rapsel is to be the liaison between vision and reality and for that, Mr. Provini is not only respected, but adored by the design world.

Aldo Provini began his professional career at a very young age. Fresh from his studies, he joined Milan’s furniture industry due to its international reputation.

Through his involvement in modern Italian design, which at the time was taking the world by storm, he met Paolo Marzolini, the charismatic owner of a Milan-based import firm that specialized in Scandinavian design (VOLA, Kinnasand, Boras, Almedahls, Lyktan, Lammhults, etc.). Together, they founded the company Rapsel SpA in 1975 (the name Rapsel stands for Rappresentanze Selezionate = Select Representations).

This step made Rapsel, the Italian agent for VOLA, bringing along Arne Jacobsen, the embodiment of purity and perfection. During that time, there were hardly any bathtubs or washbasins to team them up with. Those were the days of anonymous bathroom products: nondescript components in white or boring beige, which used to be jazzed up by calling it ‘Sahara Beige’.

In the late 1970s, Aldo Provini frequently travelled to Basel on business. There, he came across a young team of architects, Berger and Stahl, who had a revolutionary product in the pipeline - a coloured metal washstand on four legs. This became the first Rapsel product and soon proved a runaway bestseller in every market, which was ultimately a catalyst for Provini’s flair for distinguished and successful designs.

Soon after, young designers (some of today’s top names amongst them) were lining up to show their designs to him. He included in his collection the first bathroom product by Philippe Starck: a wash unit for President Mitterand’s Elysée Palace in Paris. Ever since, he has aided numerous designers to take their first steps to their professional careers. Over the past 30 years, has worked with luminaries such as Adri Hazebroek, Finn Skodt, Peter Büchele, Peter Lorenz and Matteo Nunziati while at the same time collaborating with legendary designers of the calibre of Andrée Putman, Gio Ponti, Shiro Kuramata, Souto De Moura, Matteo Thun, Alvaro Siza and Michele de Lucchi. Nonetheless, Aldo Provini continues to give young designers the window to their now design legacy. One could say that he has set the stage for the modern bathroom as we know it today, with products that gave life to the current health and wellness boom.

Now, in 2008, Rapsel has become the beacon for innovative bath designs and has numerous awards to prove it, ranging from the Italian Design Prize, ‘Compasso d’Oro’, to the ‘Interior Design Prize’ USA. Today, Rapsel owns NITO, manufacturer of unconventional bathroom accessories based in Tuscany, which specializes in young and young at heart designs.
With their ever-evolving design concepts, i.e. new materials and new shapes, Mr. Provini stays true to his vision. His philosophy has always been to place revenue into research and to incorporate new technologies to push existing boundaries in the bathroom sector. He also carries on the dreams of his designers while producing and marketing good industrial design. With that in mind, Mr. Provini is a design connoisseur and with his maverick ideas and business-savvy approach, his model will forever be emulated.

Rapsel Company Profile

Aldo Provini serves as the CEO of Rapsel. The Rapsel brand has been an innovator in the bath and sanitary category for more than 30 years. Rapsel has long been known inside the architecture and design industries for fostering the best talent. Among a "who's who" of international custom designers working with ecological materials and high-technology finishes and veneers include Gio Ponti, Matteo Thun, Phillipe Starck, Ludovia Roberto Palomba, Berger & Stahl, Peter Buschele, Shiro Kuramata, Peter Lorenz and Susanne Moeskjaer, among others. Significant requests from national museums, films sets and numerous architecture and design firms are in motion as well.

As a lifestyle brand, Rapsel design products are representative of the next-wave in material use. The firm and its custom designers are experts in architecturally turning functional bath and sanitary products into artwork for elegant, healthy living.

Rapsel is sold in the US exclusively through AFNY. For information on how to purchase Rapsel products, please contact Rapsel US Sales agent Denis Colacicco at (203)594-1522.

RAPSEL USA Sales Office
51 Locust Ave. Suite 201
New Canaan, CT 06840

To visit Rapsel company website, click http://www.rapsel.it

Timeline of Iconic Designs

WASHMOBIL (Design Berger & Stahl, 1978)
Everything began with Washmobil: The washbasin on four legs.

LOLA HERZBURG (Design Philippe Starck , 1982)
One of the first objects of Philippe Starck, designed for the private rooms of President Mitterrand at the Elysée Palace. Shortyl after, Stack started his career with his legendary hotels – also thanks to this bathroom design. Free-standing wash unit in chromed brass and stainless steel basin or in painted metal and enamelled basin.

EUCLIDE (Design Finn Skodt & Studio Rapsel, 1984)
With this completely new form for conical washbasins, Sködt and Rapsel animated many ‘variations’ since then. Free-standing washbasin in polished or enamelled stainless steel

NOST (Design Studio Rapsel, 1990)
A wall mounted wash basin in tempered glass. The wall mounted faucet spout is designed with low volume, output centered on the drain.

OLYMPIA (Design Gagliardi & Turi und Studio Rapsel, 1991/1993)
A free-standing wash basin with chrome wall mounted faucet. The specially made frosted glass basin is mounted on the tempered glass countertop; the conical brass support is finished in copper or chrome.

POSITANO (Design Matteo Thun, 1997)
Free-standing enameled white or “terracotta” ceramic washbasin, formed as a trophy on a cylindrical supporting column. Poetic object for house and garden.

LAVASCA (Design Matteo Thun, 2000)
This new bathtub was developed for its material Duralmond, high-tech with best eco-balance. It is Llight, weighs only 65 kg and can be lifted, easily transported and is like a soft embrace...Elegant: with its fetching sculptural from, it can be positioned anywhere in the room. Still the only tub that enables you to lie comfortably in the water and read the newspaper with your head supported. Functional: No taps are required; water can also be added or drained using sensors. In 2002, came Lavasca Mini. 10 % smaller in its dimensions and produced in a new material, Cristalplant.

PLUVIAE (Design Matteo Thun, 2000)
Wall hung shower structure, made of brushed stainless steel. It is available in version IN (concealed water connection) and OUT (water connection visible through a flexible pipe.)
Piattobase: Adjustable brushed stainless steel shower base. Pianolegno: Teak wood base for shower.

COBRA (Design Adri Hazebroek, 2001)
The Cobra shower hovers elegantly over the user’s head and brings a touch of jungle and adventure to the bathroom. The Belgian architect and designer Adri Hazebroek has a reputation for surprising the onlooker with his subtle designs. He has again devised a truly new and innovative feature for the bathroom: a highly original shower with a fascinating shape that is witty, elegant and nonetheless extremely functional.

KEA and MYLOS (Design Marco Piva, 2003)
Poetry in the bathroom. The organic, nature-inspired shapes of Mylos and Kea enter into a thrilling dialogue with Cristalplant, the innovative, high-tech, mineral-based material. On its own, Mylos, the free-standing washbasin, resembles a flower petal. Arranged in a group, the basins create an exciting puzzle with myriad possible combinations. The Kea basin has a novel, asymmetric shape. The washbasin appears to float on air and can either be mounted on a shelf or built into a unit. The deep, comfortable bathtub has a wide rim and is equally ideal for a long, relaxing soak or an invigorating shower.

WAVE (Design Marco Piva, 2004)
WAVE, the name given to this mirror, the convex curved portion of which – the wave – is, in fact, a light. WAVE appeals to the eye, not only because of its design and functional brilliance, but also as a high-tech object in its own right. The surface is shaped, mirrored and sanitised in several work processes. The light source (the wave) can be mounted at the top or to the side, as required.

External Links

http://www.rapsel.it

http://www.afnewyork.com

http://www.gothampr.com