Press releases

The upcoming London Design Festival is the design event for the British metropolis. Like the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan or imm Cologne, it provides a platform for creative talent. TOTO is also opening its doors to them: The new showroom, located in the design district of Clerkenwell, will host a two-week exhibition by Toh Shimazaki Architecture entitled “Adaptable Structures” – the event starts 20 September 2010. Read more

The Japanese bathroom supplier is organising this design event in the TOTO showroom in cooperation with Blueprint Magazine, one of the the leading English magazine for architecture and design. In keeping with TOTO’s product philosophy, the exhibition focuses on the dynamic dialogue between Europe and Japan in the fields of design and architecture. Toh Shimazaki Architecture was founded a few years ago by Yuli Toh and Takero Shimazaki, both English natives with Japanese roots. Each summer, they hold architecture workshops for students with the t-sa forum. This brings participants from around the world together to explore the connections between Japan and the old continent. Last year’s workshop in London focused on "Adaptable Structures", and a workshop was held this summer in Tokyo to examine this subject in greater detail. This wide range of interpretations is now on display in the British capital. Models, drawings and original installations show how the underlying idea of the structure can be retained and realised throughout the long, complex design process and the life of the building – while being adapted to new developments.

“TOTO products also unite both cultures – in this case, European design is used to house Japanese technology. In our “Designed Technology" concept, we hide this technology in our products in order to enhance the well-being of the user,” sayThe TOTO NEOREST LE Bathtub received one of the most important German awards for product design: the “red dot design award” from the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen. This renowned prize is a seal of quality for outstanding design recognised around the world. With over 12,000 submissions from over 60 countries, the red dot design award is one of the world’s largest design competitions.

The NEOREST Series/LE has been awarded three “red dots" in all – the LE Toilet and LE Washbasin received this distinction in 2009. All products in the NEOREST LE Series were designed by TOTO’s Creative Director Europe Masahiro Maruhashi, who was also in Essen to accept the award.

In future, nearly the entire LE collection will be part of the permanent collection at the “red dot design museums” in Essen – the world’s largest and probably most unusual collection of contemporary design.

The NEOREST Series/LE has a distinctively elegant, flowing design and is made of LUMINIST, a special material developed by TOTO. This partially translucent material affords a wide range of new design possibilities. If the atmospheric LED lighting is turned on, the bathtub shimmers in warm, comfortable light. This unique material radiates a sense of purity and clarity in daylight. The velvety surface is also extremely robust and easy to clean. s Koji Nakano, President of TOTO Europe GmbH. Read moreClose