In this post we tell the story of the greatest ceramic company in the history of bathroom design: IDEAL STANDARD. We will start from the beginnings and the early successes of the old models achieved thanks to sanitary ware lines designed by designers such as GIO PONTI, we will go through the ’70s and ’80s with Ideal Standard’s historical lines that gave it national and international success, designed by the company’s own designers, but also by designers such as ACHILLE CASTIGLIONI and GAE AULENTI. We will move into the ’90s and see how the Ideal Standard catalogue conquered building specifications all over Europe. Up to the first decade of the 2000s with the latest series still popular in the bathroom furnishing sector.
PONTI Z series Ideal Standard
The ceramic series that started Ideal Standard’s fantastic commercial and industrial history is Ponti Z. Designed and produced in the 1950s (1954) by the world-famous designer Gio Ponti, discussed in the post: ”The first bathroom designers: Ponti, Castiglioni, Aulenti. Historical sanitary ware and toilet seats.” A series with important dimensions but lightened by the fact that it ‘stretches’ forward at the front. It was produced in the colours white, champagne and regency blue. All toilet seats for this ceramic series can be found in the Sintesibagno online catalogue at the following link [ clik here ]
ONELINE /ONDINE series Ideal Standard
About ten years later, in 1966, again from a Gio Ponti ‘s idea, the ceramic house presents Ondine / Oneline. Here the details of its shape that surprise are two. The first is its base, which sits exactly at the front edge of the top, The second is the shape of its top, the designer starts with a classic oval shape, of sanitary ware of the period, and interrupts the radius, right at the front, with an angle, creating a striking pointed shape. His ‘pointed’ toilet seat can be found in the Sintesibagno online catalogue at the following link [ clik here ]
MONVAS / SOVAS series Ideal Standard
In the late ’60s and early ’70s, the ceramic house Ideal Standard presented what can be considered the first series of suspended sanitary ware, was called Monvas / Sovas. It was a very big toilet that we could have talked about in the post: “Large sanitary ware and their covers”, It was a sanitary ware line that we can consider in line with current minimalist taste. Only the dimensions are from another era. To give you an idea of the important dimensions, let us tell you that its toilet seat was a good 49/50 cm long! Characterising its shape were the two large recesses where the pins to hold it suspended. You can find his toilet seat in the store at the following link [ clik here ]
ELLISSE series Ideal Standard
At the turn of the ’70s and ’80s, the ceramic company proposed this series of sanitary wares with the name: Ellisse. In every product sector there is always a product that becomes the reference of sorts (the one that all competitors look to for inspiration and try to emulate its success). In the posts: ”Narrow WCs and bidets. Measurements of less than 35 cm. What are the toilet covers for these sanitary wares?” we have talked about it extensively. This is precisely the case: the ELLISSE series from Ideal Standard. Where it was the first to bring the width of sanitary ware from the classic 37 cm to less than 35 (34.5 to be precise). It arrived on the market at the turn of the ’70s and ’80s and remained in the catalogue, given the appreciation of the general public until the early 2000s. It depopulated on the market where new constructions were reducing bathroom space or even in homes where a second bathroom was beginning to be built. Given its size, it was easily placed anywhere. It spanned the history of bathroom furniture for forty years, and often to renew itself the company would offer it in a new colour. It started with white (proposed in the company’s two typical variants: European white and Ideal Standard white) and went on to champagne, mink, whisper pink, whisper blue, blueberry, fern green, backdrop blue, pomegranate. All toilet seat covers can be found in the Sintesibagno online catalogue at the following link [ clik here ]
CONCA series Ideal Standard
And here we come to the legend of the company and of the entire bathroom furniture sector: Conca. A sanitary ware with so many distinctive features that allowed it to remain in the company’s catalogue for 50 years. So iconic that all ceramic manufacturers competing with Ideal Standard made a similar series: In the post: “The Conca toilet and toilet seat and its brothers” we have seen some: Clio by Globo, Duccio by Senesi, Adda Facis, Aero by Ideal Standard, Conny by Gravena. But what are the salient features of this ceramic series? We have seen in the post ”The CONCA toilet seat cover. Discover which product is perfect for the Ideal Standard toilet (the ultimate version)” all the characteristics that the perfect Conca toilet seat must have: it was one of the first rectangular shapes, the back raised and sloping at 45° and the top sloping, and the need to have sloping bumpers fitted to the toilet seat. Thanks to the notoriety of this sanitary ware, the ceramic company made its two types of white known to the general public (we suggest that you read more about this at the following link [ clik here ]). As for ELLISSE, Conca, having had a very long productive and commercial life, the company has not only offered it in the two whites just mentioned, but also in the entire colour range it has produced over time: CHAMPAGNE, MINK, KASHMIR, BEAVER, WALNUT, WHISPERED BLUE, WHISPERED ROSE, WHISPERED GREY, BACKDROP, BLUEBERRY, FERN, WHISPERED GREEN, BLACK, CACTUS, POMEGANATE, YELLOW DUNE. All Conca toilet seats can be found in the Sintesibagno online catalogue at the following link [ clik here ]
LINDA series Ideal Standard
We are in the late ’70s when the genius of Achille Castiglioni gives life to: Linda. We have seen in the post: ”LINDA series is a primary form” how geometry gave birth to a revolutionary sanitary ware. Two straight lines and two semicircles delimit the upper part, which descends towards the foot of the parallelepiped sanitary ware and becomes a sphere. Thanks to the experience gained in the early ’70s with the series Aquatonda (which we will see in the next post) also this series and all the company’s production is now made, thanks to Castiglioni, with vitreous china, a vitrified porcelain, whose brilliance remains almost unchanged over time. A soft, ductile paste that can be cast into any shape, taking on, when fired at temperatures of 1300 degrees, considerable strength and allowed the company to become known to the general public not only for the beauty of its shapes but also for the absolute quality of its ceramics. Did you know that an Ideal Standard product was sold with a lifetime guarantee? Linda, like Conca, was also much imitated and chased in its success by series of sanitary wares of competing ceramic manufacturers, in the post readable HERE we saw: Linea by Pozzi Ginori, Tuscia by Senesi, M2 50 by Galassia and C52 Light by Catalano. All Linda toilet seat covers, in all colours: Eu White, Ideal Standard White, Champagne, Blueberry, Deep Blue, Mink, Whisper Green, Whisper Pink, and also in the new thermosetting plastics (also soft-close with slow motion hinges) are available in the Sintesibagno store at the following link [ clik here ]
