Taps with retro notes

With carefully measured retro notes, but steering clear of nostalgic replicas, Gessi’s Venti20 collection gives new life to the characteristic elements of the 1920s: the details, the iconic style, the playful spirit. The collection absorbs that era’s zest for life and forward-looking optimism and brings it into the most private spaces of contemporary life. In this outlook lies, according to the brand, the recipe for a new appreciation of style and for improving people’s lives today.

It is designed by the Spanish designer and architect Lázaro Rosa-Violán, and covers basin, bidet, bath and shower taps, as well as bathroom accessories. In this article we look at the idea behind the collection, the details that define it, its wall-mounted versions with remote control, the finishes and what to bear in mind when specifying it.

The spirit of the 1920s, in a contemporary key

Venti20 is the result of a collaboration between Gessi and Lázaro Rosa-Violán, who founded LRV Studio in Barcelona in 2002, in a former textile factory in the Eixample. His studio is known for an eclectic style and for hotel, restaurant and shop interiors that, in Gessi’s words, capture the essence of the culture and context in which they are set. For the collection, the starting point was to reinterpret traditional concepts in a contemporary key, without lapsing into period reproduction.

The reference is the Art Deco of the ‘Roaring Twenties’: a taste for crafted detail, stepped geometry and the gleam of metal. Gessi presents it as a playful look back that evokes moments of carefree celebration, and translates it into pieces that work as small sculptures for the bathroom, pleasing to look at from any angle.

In the collection’s catalogue, Rosa-Violán explains that visiting Gessi’s factory at the right moment was decisive: without that visit, he says, they would have approached the project differently.

‘It was like living out the fantasy every designer has: seeing that there is someone, a company or a team of people, able to combine technology, craftsmanship and art in a single object.’

— Lázaro Rosa-Violán, on his visit to the Gessi factory

Detail and simplicity in every piece

Careful attention to the details and form of the basin mixer is balanced by an aspiration to simplicity. Venti20 captures the charm of the 1920s and evokes visions of light-hearted celebration. The choice of a particular colour or line, like that of a piece of jewellery, captivates in the moment and stays with you for years.

Gessi sums up the collection’s language in a few features that recur from one piece to the next:

• Fluted body: the vertical flutes on the body give texture and rhythm to the slender silhouette of the mixers.
• Crafted handles: a lever handle with ribbing and a stepped finial, the detail most reminiscent of the period’s ornamentation.
• Stepped base and rosettes: the spout base and the rosettes of the multi-hole versions repeat the tiered geometry of Art Deco.
• Umbrella spout: some basin sets have a long spout curved like the handle of an umbrella, whose base is also finely detailed.
• Pure lines: in contrast to these details, the spouts and bodies keep clean lines, so the whole never feels overloaded.

The different styles, options and finishes enhance the expressive and creative potential of our personal spaces and respond to each person’s design needs. The interiors focus on craftsmanship and respect the ‘real’ colours of the materials used, in a finely tuned, melodious dialogue.

Wall-mounted versions and remote control

New daily routines lead to the search for innovative solutions. The timeless yet modern form of the wall-mounted version with remote mixer is the protagonist of a modern interior design story that celebrates the poetry of an extraordinary style.

In practice, Venti20 allows the water outlet to be separated from the control. The spout is placed on the wall or ceiling and the mixer, a separate control with the same details as the rest of the collection, is positioned wherever is most convenient. Gessi singles out this control as the piece in which the collection’s technical and craft work is most concentrated.

Three holes, wall- or deck-mounted

The three-hole version, with the spout and the two handles on separate rosettes, is for Gessi the fullest expression of Venti20’s aesthetic study: the collection’s features carry over to the handles and a slender spout. It comes deck-mounted, in low and medium heights and with an umbrella spout, and wall-mounted with a long spout, like the one in the first image.

Ceiling spout

The ceiling-mounted basin spout is the collection’s most minimalist proposal. It is completed by the remote control and, according to Gessi’s catalogue, its length is made to measure, so it can be adjusted to the ceiling height of each project.

What the collection includes

The table summarises Venti20’s product families according to Gessi’s current catalogue. The references, dimensions and concealed bodies for each piece are on its technical sheet.

The collection is not limited to taps. According to Gessi, the accessories pick up the iconic design elements and the gleam of the metallic finishes, so the entire bathroom can be resolved in a single language. The 2026 edition of the catalogue also includes a wall-hung ceramic WC and bidet.

Finishes in the spotlight

In Venti20 the finish is not a final detail: it is part of the design. Gessi associates each tone with a different reading of the collection, and the reflections on the curves and cuts of the metal emphasise the Art Deco details.

• Nickel PVD: a reflective finish with warm highlights that, according to the brand, brings out the purity of the forms and the design details.
• Warm Bronze: the one that best embodies the flavour of the 1920s, with a contemporary air that suits any style.
• Black Metal and matt black: gloss black gives a linear, orderly character; the soft, deep matt is for Gessi one of the finishes that best represents the decade that inspires the collection.
• Aged Bronze: warm tones with a delicate surface brushing that highlights the flutes on the body.
• Polished brass and brushed copper: the former pairs well with the three-hole wall-mounted version; in the latter, the metalwork is completed by hand brushing.

The 2026 catalogue also lists chrome, Finox Brushed Nickel, Copper PVD, Brass Brushed PVD, Gold PVD, Gold Brushed PVD, Antique Brass, Coffee Bronze Brushed PVD and Deep Bronze Brushed PVD, among others. As the finishes chart may change, it is worth confirming the availability of each piece in the chosen finish before finalising the project.

Key points when specifying Venti20

Beyond aesthetics, these are the points worth settling at project stage:

• Concealed bodies: the wall-mounted versions (basin, bath, shower and remote control) are supplied as the external part and require their concealed body, which is installed on site. This must be planned before the walls are closed.
• Control position: if spout and mixer are separated, the position of both relative to the basin and the user’s height should be set out on the drawings.
• Ceiling spout: as it is made to measure, the finished ceiling height and the basin height must be fixed before ordering it.
• Mixer height and basin type: the tall mixer goes with countertop basins, as in the images; with inset or wall-hung basins, the low or wall-mounted versions are usually the natural choice.
• A single finish: taps, shower and accessories share finishes; choosing them together avoids differences in tone between pieces.

Gessi, the manufacturer

Gessi is an Italian company based in Valsesia (Piedmont), in an industrial complex set within a green park that the brand describes as an ‘oasis company’. It presents itself as ‘The Private Wellness Company’ and champions the combination of high-tech industrial production with the hand finishing of each piece, an idea that Venti20 brings to the fore.

According to the company itself, it has held ISO 9001 quality certification since 1996 and has an integrated management system that also covers the environment and safety.

At Matter we help you plan the bathroom taps and finishes together with the wall finishes and the pieces that go with them. Come to our material library to compare materials and finishes with your technical team.