Argentine designer Cecilia García Galofre debuted her brand Konqrit at the recent SaloneSatellite, as part of the Salone del Mobile.Milano.
Konqrit produces handcrafted, freestanding bathtubs and basins which are one-of-a-kind, artistic, custom-made pieces created from GFRC (Glass Fibre Reinforced Concrete). Founded in 2020 and officially launched in 2023 by García Galofre, Konqrit represented Argentina at the prestigious furniture fair.
Konqrit’s pieces stand out for their singular and distinctive artistic focus. The brand fuses the artisanal, the functional, the artistic, and the spiritual in each of its designs. It mainly uses non-renewable natural raw materials such as cement and quartz, with renewable ones such as wood.
Each of its pieces is collection-worthy; each has an engraved copper plate with a seal identifying the brand by its logo and serial number and, in the case of the custom bathtubs, the name of the piece with the signature of the artist who produced it.
“I created this brand out of my conviction that the bathtubs are essential pieces that need more praise. My quest for the sublime led me to conceive this brand with the idea of fostering the bath ritual as a unique experience of profound well-being. The tub is a functional piece that embraces us and provides the space of greatest intimacy, while allowing us to connect our present time with our intrauterine past” Cecilia García Galofre.
At the fair, Konqrit presented two tubs (pictured below) that exemplified its motto “Plunging into Art”. Both were made from GFRC concrete, a compound of white cement, ferrite, fiberglass, additives and ground white quartz.
Konqrit N.IX (right – using the Bahía Grande bath) measures 180cm x 80cm x 53cm and creates a suggestive effect through its combination of blended black and white tones. This chromatic effect, which includes marbling, fading and batik, gives the bath its exclusive character.
Summie (left – using the Bahía Chica bath) features the work of Argentine artist Catalina Ruiz and was inspired by a Japanese technique borrowed from China, known as Sumie. The gentle brushstrokes and monochromatic tones evoke a naturalistic painting. Summie measures 141cm x 70cm x 53cm and provides a unique sensory experience by creating an intimate and inviting refuge.
Cecilia García Galofre works and lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is a textile designer who graduated at the Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina) and who later earned an MBA at IAE Business School (Argentina). Before starting her brand Konqrit, she worked for ten years as a textile fashion consultant, connected with textile production in Asia, and travelled for trend and product trips to Europe and New York.
For more information visit https://konqrit.com/
