Competencies - December 2016

Answers to real problems

The Geberit Urinal System

Designer Christoph Behling is not content with “pretty”. Why should he be? The wealth of innovative functions that set Geberit’s products apart call for a design with substance rather than superficial cosmetics.

The core of London-based designer Christoph Behling’s activities lies in intensively addressing the requirements of the Geberit development engineers, with functionality issues being the focal point.

Designing means understanding
“As a designer it is my job to understand the logic, the innovation and the patents of a product during the many discussions with the Geberit engineers.” Only then can a design be developed that does justice to all of this. Given the fact that the individual technical components are so innovative and the system as a whole is so flexible, there were many things to be understood with regard to the new Geberit urinal system.

What is special is what you don’t see
The precise tailoring of the inner geometries of the urinal ceramic appliances Preda and Selva to the spray head, the integration of the urinal flush control underneath the appliance (a problem solved with an easily accessible docking station), and so forth. As is so often the case, it is ultimately the things you don’t see that play a role at Geberit, as Christoph Behling points out: “You can immediately see that Preda is a truly beautiful ceramic appliance that is light and elegant. What you don’t see is all the technology, patents and innovations that are installed. These things ensure that this product is easy to install, they ensure that this product is easy to maintain. They make it possible to choose between water-flushed and waterless.”