ISH in Frankfurt am Main from 14 to 18 March 2017.

“What is typically individual?” and “What types of individual bathrooms are there?” – those are the questions the Pop up my Bathroom trend forum will be asking at the ISH 2017. Initiated by the German Sanitary Industry Association (Vereinigung Deutsche Sanitärwirtschaft e.V. [VDS]) on behalf of Messe Frankfurt, the trend platform will be exploring the “Individual Bathroom” and presenting the current trends at the world’s leading trade fair for the combination of water and energy in Frankfurt am Main from 14 to 18 March 2017.

No fewer than eight answers will be showing where things are heading. That’s because the bathroom will look completely different depending on which trend most influences the user and what his priorities are. So what exactly are those trends and what options for customisation are already available to consumers, or will be in the near future? Pop up my Bathroom explores the entire spectrum in the form of eight 3D collages – in photographs and “in the flesh” at the ISH 2017.

A bathroom that fits like a glove

The fact is that the desire for originality and self-fulfilment is growing stronger all the time. When we talk about an individual bathroom today, we don’t mean extravagant fittings and furnishings or exceptionally original ideas, but rather a bathroom whose look and functions have been tailored entirely to its user and the architectural circumstances.

The trend forum Pop up my Bathroom creates unusual models to demonstrate the many and varied aspects of individual bathroom design and presents them in a special exhibition at the ISH 2017 in Frankfurt. “The bathroom is increasingly becoming a space that people enjoy spending time in and can identify with,” says Jens J. Wischmann, Managing Director of the VDS, of the trend towards individualism and consumers’ growing appreciation of an attractively furnished bathroom.

The bathroom as a place to enjoy

It doesn’t matter whether the consumer prefers a bathroom with a seamless, homogeneous look or a stylish arrangement mixed with vintage elements: thanks to the wealth of variants and extremely complex product ranges on the market, almost any brand-name manufacturer’s collection contains a solution for any type of setting. Once and for all, selecting products has become a question of taste, because many ranges permit customisation down to the smallest detail. In the shower, for instance, jets and outlets can be positioned individually; sandblasting technology allows personalised patterns to be “painted” on the shower, and emblems can be incorporated into mirrors, glass or tiles. The big lifestyle brands are already offering “colour on demand” for their bathtubs and vanities, and in some cases the customer can even design the outer shape of the tub himself. Nowadays even ceramic vanity tops can be custom-sized without putting a strain on either the consumer’s wallet or the manufacturer’s production processes.