Roca Jump the Gap Winner

Michal Warykiewicz from Poland, has been announced as the winner of the 4^th edition of the Roca Jump the Gap competition for his ‘In & Out’ shower concept.

The award, presented at the recently opened London Roca Gallery, was announced by famed architect Ron Arad who headed up the jury of design and architecture personalities.

The concept creates an exterior and interior shower, built on top of a circular base, with two columns and fixed semicircular glass screens. The shower rotates 180 degrees, transforming bathroom shower mode to garden shower mode. The exterior option provides a shower in the garden, while the indoor mode ensures privacy through the activation of liquid crystals to make the glass opaque.

Warykiewicz’s ‘In & Out’ shower concept was chosen as the winning design from a short list of 30 projects, and he will receive a trophy, as well as 5,000 euros.

Plans for the 5^th Edition of Jump the Gap is currently underway, with the official launch planned for September 2012.

The competition was launched at 100% Design in 2010 and received 3004 entries from 92 countries.

Zaha Hadid creates show-stopping Roca space

London is now home to a show-stopping architecture created by Zaha Hadid Architects – no not the Olympic Aquatic Centre – but the Roca London Gallery in Chelsea Harbour. Inspired by ‘the power of water as a transforming element’, it's been created to appear as though water has sculptured and defined the 1,100m2 single floor space.

However, the design is not just for looks alone. Its form is to help visitors understand the relationship between architecture and the design of Roca products. Zaha Hadid explained the concept: “Our work imbues architecture with the intricacy and beauty of natural forms. Using a formal language derived from the movement of water, the Roca London Gallery has been eroded and polished by fluidity; generating a sequence of dynamic spaces carved from this fascinating interplay between architecture and nature.”

Created to be more than a display space, the Roca London gallery is available to a wide audience from architects through to design-savvy students. And it is proposed to be a London hub for exhibitions, meetings, presentations, seminars and debates.

Miguel Angel Munar, senior managing director of Roca Bathroom Products division commented: “For Roca it is essential to have a presence in a city like London which is a benchmark for design and innovation on a global level. London is also of strategic important to our future business development since it allows us to be close to our top international distributors and clients. At the Roca London Gallery, Zaha Hadid has perfectly interpreted all our brand values, as well as our company philosophy in a singularly exciting and tangible way.”

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