A groundbreaking idea born almost by chance. In 1976, I Balocchi turned the humble faucet into a symbol of Italian design — and in doing so, Fantini reinvented an everyday object through color, playfulness, and a boldly pop sensibility.
Behind every great idea lies more than just a brilliant concept. For an idea to become an icon, it must find a bold spirit — someone willing to believe in it enough to bring it to life.
Fifty years ago, young architects Paolo Pedrizzetti and Davide Mercatali conceived an unconventional line of faucets whose very name embodied a pop archetype that had never before been seen in the world of bathroom hardware. Celebrating play, color, and imagination, I Balocchi brought an entirely new creative energy to bathroom design — elevating what had long been a purely functional object into a genuine design statement.
It was Pedrizzetti and Mercatali’s first project in the sector. They produced a spontaneous, entirely original sketch — unlike anything that had ever defined faucet design. Convinced it was too unconventional, they held it back and presented it last to the Fantini brothers, after showing concepts closer to the existing product range. Yet it was precisely that drawing that caught Giovanni Fantini’s eye. Struck by its unprecedented forms — and its equally unusual use of color — he immediately recognized he was looking at something new. At the next trade fair, he removed everything else from the stand and placed his entire bet on that single model.
“The I Balocchi project is the result of a casual encounter between two smart designers who were paying close attention to what was happened around the world and at our company, which had the technical know-how and was also very open-minded. Today designers are usually given a detailed brief — but that day, the spark ignited in the exact opposite way. The two approaches are very different. I love this story precisely for its spontaneity.”“The I Balocchi project is the result of a casual encounter between two smart designers who were paying close attention to what was happened around the world and at our company, which had the technical know-how and was also very open-minded. Today designers are usually given a detailed brief — but that day, the spark ignited in the exact opposite way. The two approaches are very different. I love this story precisely for its spontaneity.”
The playful spirit behind I Balocchi originally took shape by imagining Disney characters — Goofy, Mickey Mouse — standing in front of a single-lever mixer. It was a simple but inspired leap: the designers drew from the world of cartoons and from Pop Art, then at the height of its influence thanks to the movement born in Andy Warhol’s Factory, with its ability to magnify everyday details and elevate them into cultural symbols.
As Paolo Pedrizzetti himself describes it, the collection’s image is “new, joyful, carefree, young for the young — and still relevant today.” It has never stopped evolving. Today, under Daniela Fantini’s leadership, the I Balocchi range is continually enriched with new colors in dialogue with contemporary trends — without ever compromising its founding philosophy: the collection has always offered a fully customizable color palette, designed to adapt to any project. The same visionary spirit that, at launch, earned the collection extensive media coverage and widespread public acclaim — placing I Balocchi among the most innovative products ever to appear in the faucet market — lives on today.
Fifty years on, with a design legacy as impeccable as ever, I Balocchi continue to speak to the playful side in all of us. Over the years, this landmark collection has also given vital support to the “100 Fontane Fantini for Africa” initiative, passionately championed and funded by Daniela Fantini to help build a water supply system in Burundi — providing access to clean water for more than 25,000 people.
