Foreword

As editor of Blueprint I talk to

designers and architects all

the time. One of the things

they like to tell me is that they

listen to their clients, then

design projects specifically

for the brief and the site.

Arne Jacobsen and Verner

Overgaard did that too in

1968, when the classic VOLA

tap was developed for the

National Bank of Denmark

in Copenhagen. To me, this is

the remarkable thing about

VOLA – the design is as useful

and beautiful today as it was

forty years ago. Not only that,

the designers had the highest

aspirations for ordinary

people who worked in the

bank: they deserved quality

as much as people fitting out

their own homes.

Without underestimating the

genius of the designers, there

must have been something

very special in the air in

1968 to foster such a spirit

of universalism. Perhaps

an outlook that celebrated

humanity in all its forms...

that believed in the positive

potential of engineering, craft

and design. When you buy a

VOLA tap you get a bit of that

philosophy, as much as you

acquire a beautiful product.

As a side note, I’m proud to

say that I was born in 1968

too. I’d like to think that some

of the VOLA humanism

comes through in my work as

an editor and journalist. I only

wish I was in such good

shape!

Vicky Richardson

Editor, Blueprint