Originally developed nearly 20 years ago for Axor as a simple outdoor farm tap, Phillipe Starck’s latest foray into the world of taps is aimed at not only providing an organic aesthetic to your wash basin, but also helps keep water usage down to a trickle…without feeling like a trickle.

The Axor Starck Organic

Presented in New York this week, the new tap design from iconic French designer Philippe Starck is designed to use half as much water as regular taps, without feeling an apparent loss of water pressure. How is this possible?

Starck incorporated ninety jets into the tap that spurt a combination of air and water to give the user a more robust water-flow sensation than what is actually coming out of the tap:

“You have the feeling of having a lot of water, but with less.”
-Philippe Starck

With water conservation being a primary design driver, Starck also incorporated other elements into the design that focus on keeping water usage to an absolute minimum. Among others, the temperature is preset by the user at the top of the tap in such a way that each time the water is turned on, the resulting flow is at the exact desired temperature for the user. Ultimately, this eliminates the need for letting the water flow for no purpose other than to reach a desired temperature—something that even the most modern of current-day tap designs aren’t capable of:

“When we change temperature we lose a lot of water…we don’t need to change temperature – we always use water at more or less the same temperature. That’s why we’ve added a pre-set feature.”
-Philippe Starck

This isn’t the first time Axor has teamed up with Starck, and the two share very similar design philosophies that not only culminate in exceptional designs with a purpose, but also happen to sell well, too. Unlike his other designs for Axor, the Organic is derived from…well, a very organic, twig-like form that is not only pleasing on the eyes, but also very ergonomic and user-considered. Among other features are a low-hanging form that prevents heavy splashing in a water basin. Even the guts have been designed with long-term use considerations–having been made from silicone components to prevent limescale formation.

Starck has been on an upswing in the last few years with products ranging from the Parrot Zik headphones to the My World tech-friendly couch, to Steve Jobs’ yacht interior and a range of chandeliers. Love him or hate him, the guy has great range and we’ll look forward to what 2014 brings from the Starck Studios.

via Axor