A Closed-Loop Recycling System? Roberto Martinez of Kaldewei Looks at the Future of Architecture

Good design influences everyday life. Perfection is in the detail, believes Roberto Martinez and directs his attention to issues of sustainability at Kaldewei.

What significance do architectural details have for your company?
We are all surrounded by buildings and architecture. Good design should absolutely be sustainable in all areas and not be guided by short-lived trends. Architectural details influence our moods and minds; they can even affect our physical health. The principle that perfection is about detail is as valid in bathroom design as elsewhere. This counts from the choice of materials, to design, to the added value offered by a product. It is here that Kaldewei has developed into an international benchmark over the decades. With a love of detail, we create bathroom solutions using steel enamel; these create a very special interior atmosphere and, moreover, are made of a material that is 100% recyclable and provides sustainability par excellence for our customers and our planet. 

When did you first encounter Detail?
At the end of the 1990s and beginning of 2000, I saw the magazine several times at renowned architects’ places. Naturally, this piqued my curiosity. Detail’s “Building with Glass” issue was the breakthrough for me. 

Where do you see architecture in 60 years?
In 60 years, closed-loop recycling systems will be a matter of course. Ultramodern technologies will be employed to supply residents. Together they will form a largely autonomous system − from energy generation, to leisure activities, to covering basic needs such as food. Buildings will change continuously, or at least their outer shells will. Today’s building sites will become the material stores of tomorrow.
 
Roberto Martinez has been working at Kaldewei since 2013. He is responsible for international sales and operative projects in the family business that produces bathroom solutions from steel enamel. Since 2017, he has been a member of the executive board in the capacity of managing director; he is also one of the architects of the company’s strategy. Martinez is 52 years old and is married with three children. For more than 25 years, he has been internationally active in the area of Interior & Architecture. Before that, he worked with fashion-oriented and technical textiles for eight years.