An I-beam on the washbasin: Ayla by Cea Design

The I-beam is the most American of profiles: it frames skylines, holds up bridges, carries entire floors of office towers. Ayla by Cea Design takes that exact section and asks it to carry something lighter — water. Designed by Yabu Pushelberg, the studio founded in 1980 with more than a hundred creatives between New York and Toronto, the collection turns a structural icon into a faucet of unusual grace.

The engineering is real, not quoted: an unusually thin horizontal spout completes the wider vertical body, a proportion CEA achieves through what it calls an uncompromising technique. Beveled edges soften the profile for the eye and for the hand. The material is AISI 316L stainless steel, satin or polished — a finish that holds its own against designer ceramics —, with four special finishes: Black Diamond, Bronze, Copper and Light Gold.

The range reads like a construction set for the whole bathroom: five washbasin and bidet families, thermostatic shower and bath sets, a rim-mounted tub group, an extensive series of wall and deck remote controls, separate spouts and a hand shower. In an executive washroom, it is the one detail every visitor will read correctly.