【MV】Because the product pipeline is always very long, we have a strategy for the next 4 years usually, and the pipeline was a little bit full. But we wanted to work together, and we found one project. It was clear that we want to do it, we went through the process quickly and it was very very fast with Toan. He is amazing to work with, because a lot of intelligent in the process and in the product. And it was even a complicated product. It was a urinal. But it proofed that the capacity and opportunity to work together and from that it was clear that we want to go into a long term relationship. Not only love in the first sight but to profit from each other’s knowledge because especially ceramics you need to know really a lot. And it would be a pity to learn it for one project and then not explore further. While the second project it’s clear about exploring further, much more, because we have the new material the SaphirKeramik which we don’t know yet where the limits are where the boundaries are. The whole idea of this project was to work with Toan to explore new limits new boundaries with this new material SaphirKeramik.

　　【MV】因為我們的產品研發一直是非常長期的，我們有對未來四年的戰略計劃，而我們的產品線已經有些負荷過滿。但是我們很想一起共事，所以我們找到了這么一個雙方都很看好的項目，我們和Toan非常快的走完了相關流程。他是一個非常令人贊嘆的合作伙伴，為我們的流程和產品都帶來了很多智慧。而且這次合作還是設計一款很復雜的產品，是一款小便器。通過這個項目雙方證明了可以一起工作的能力和難得的機遇，當時我們就很堅信我們彼此希望達成長期的合作了。不僅是短暫的“看對眼”，而是可以長期從雙方的學識智慧中得益。因為對于陶瓷這種特殊材料來說，人們需要學習很多知識。而如果只是為了一個項目學習了一些特性而沒有繼續深究下去就太可惜了。所以我們第二個合作的項目基調就是為了深入研究。這次我們有了個新型陶瓷材料“藍鉆陶瓷”，這個陶瓷如此之新，我們自己都不知道它的局限和邊界在哪里。所以這個項目的主旨就是和Toan一起去探尋新型材料藍鉆陶瓷的新邊界，并打破新的局限。

　　【J】What about Mr. Nguyen, what’s your feeling about this collaboration?

　　【J】對于Nguyen先生來說呢?這次合作感覺如何?

　　【TN】I would say great because we started very quickly as Marc said. The first project I was involved was not typical because it was a urinal so it was a contract product but at the same time I think it was really interesting because it’s a product that-maybe there’s not so much attention in designing, because it’s for a lot of contract projects. It was a challenge I wanted to do something that could be interesting, newer and user-friendly. It was my approach. And we did this project very quickly. The first idea I think was fine and Laufen proceed it so we went very directly to the process of industrialisation, prototyping and so on, and I think the result was pretty good. And it got us a Red Dot Award. I think the product started from a very typical contract product to also there was a lot of highlights in the product and I think it was welcome by both, by the professionals and by the press as well. So obviously it was very exiting for me also to do another project to touch all field in the bathroom. So SaphirKeramik was a great opportunity to do this, because the material was new. Fortunately there was not so much of opportunities like this. You have a new project started with a new material, you don’t know exactly the limit, so there is a challenge and this is what’s excited for me the most, not so much to make a new shape for washbasin. It was a new approach we approach the project with also the process. I tried really to enter into the process and understand what’s clever to do in SaphirKeramik, and not try to do something which is born for resin or other material. The idea of the project, it’s really born for SaphirKeramik, reach its specificity, which is sharp, tight, resistant, it’s very thin. But at the same time still ceramic. So you have-as Marc said before-you really have to understand how ceramic works because ceramic is not like doing an injection mold in plastic where you have a shape and you just need to understand how to make the mold and that’s it. But ceramic, the material is almost alive, there’s a huge process of molding, drying, glazing, firing. Until it’s not completed, all these process are not finished, you will never know what you will get.

　　【TN】我會說這是一次很棒的體驗，因為如Marc所說非常迅速的就開始合作了。我所參與的第一個項目不是一個尋常的項目，因為這是一個小便器，所以雖然這是一個合同產品，但同時我覺得是一個很有趣的產品，因為這是一個不大引起設計界關注的產品，因為一般來說都是作為廠商合同產品來設計的。這個項目對于我來說是個挑戰，我希望能做些有趣的、新的，以及試用體驗很友好的設計。我們非常快的完成了這個項目，我第一次演示的方案勞芬就通過了，所以我們直接進入了生產環節、做樣品等等，我認為最終這個設計的效果也是不錯的。它為我們帶來了一個紅點獎。我認為這個產品從一個很常見的合同產品，最終成為了一個具有很多亮點的產品，受到了專業人士以及媒體的贊賞。所以顯而易見的，我很高興能再次參與又一個項目，來接觸衛浴產品的其他領域。我是幸運的，因為這樣的機會不多。你能有一個全新的材料且據此啟動一個全新的項目，你不知道會有哪些限制，這樣是非常具有挑戰性的，這對我來說比設計一個洗臉盆的新造型要有趣得多了。因為有了新材料，我們的生產工藝也有很大改變，我嘗試著真的沉浸在制造過程中并且理解對藍鉆陶瓷這種材料來說，什么是該做的，什么是更符合傳統樹脂基陶瓷材料而不應該用在這個新材料上的。于是我的設計就真正的專門為藍鉆陶瓷而生，符合它的材料特性，利落，緊湊，高強度，并且非常輕薄，但同時它還是一款陶瓷產品。所以就如Marc所說的，你真的需要很了解陶瓷的獨特個性，因為陶瓷工藝不像塑料注塑工藝那樣，你只需要有個形狀，并且知道如何做出符合這個形狀的模具就可以了。對陶瓷來說，這種材料幾乎就像具有生命一樣，需要很繁瑣的工藝來鑄模，干燥，上釉，煅燒。在這些步驟沒有完成之前，你根本不知道你能得出一個什么樣的產品。

（左圖為Toan Nguyen先生為勞芬設計的第一款產品Antero小便池，右圖為最新的INO系列洗臉盆及勞芬水龍頭）