The passage of time is relentless when it comes to technology and design. What works today may not work tomorrow, and sometimes something that starts out as a novelty show is soon forgotten. One example that comes to mind is the Mac Pro 6.1. Nicknamed the “trash can” for obvious reasons, it was seen as revolutionary at the time, but not only did it have a short lifespan, but later models opted to revert to the big boxes. But there are also examples of the opposite: products that are so well-designed that they’ve been with us for decades, despite some conceptual flaws.

If something works, don’t change it, and one of the products that best exemplifies this is something as simple as an orange juicer that you not only have at home but also continue to use every day: the Braun Citromatic, for which we have designed Gabriel Lluelles, I have to thank. It also fascinated one of the most important figures in Apple design history, Jony Ive.

Rams’ Orders. To understand Citromatic, we must mention Dieter Rams. In the 1950s, Rams was already considered one of the most relevant European designers. He was one of the standard bearers of the second period of German functionalism, which, as a continuation of the Bauhaus trend, aimed to design products that ‘worked’ and were not tied to fashion or unique elements designed to sell.

This industrial design has resulted in products that seemed out of date 70 years ago but still look futuristic today and, most importantly, work in the broadest sense of the word.

Rams had his own design decalogue, an aesthetic, formal and ethical ideology that marked the era and inspired many later designers. It was this:

1. Every good design is innovative.
2. Provides usability to every product.
3. Aesthetic.
4. It makes a product easier to understand and use.
5. He is honest and does not manipulate with false promises of benefits.
6. It is discreet and sober. It should not be confused with a work of art or decorative objects.
7. It is anachronistic and will never go out of fashion.
8. He leaves nothing to chance in design and pays attention to every detail.
9. Respect the environment.
10. It is design in its bare minimum: Less is more, but with better execution.

Minipimer, Gabriel LluellesDieter worked for Braun for many years, and many of the products the brand continues to sell are the same ones designed around this aesthetic trend 70 years ago. But let’s jump from Germany to Barcelona, ​​from Dieter Rams to Gabriel Lluelles. Lluelles was born in 1923 and was an industrial designer who worked at Industrias Primer SA between 1947 and 1962.

The world owes a debt of gratitude to Lluelles for the invention of the Minipimer, the small hand mixer that revolutionized the MR1 version. After some time, he improved the design by integrating the hidden operation button on the handle into the MR2, and the design is still retro-futuristic. It is clearly from the 60s, but if we saw it in a science fiction series tomorrow, it would still fit perfectly. It is exactly the same as the Ericsson Ericofone.

Braun is coming to SpainThe Minipimer brand continues to be sold, but it is now marketed by Braun. This is because the German company came to Spain in 1962 and acquired Primer SA, which also acquired Lluelles. Three of Europe’s leading industrial designers in the 1960s were now working together.

This meant that Jürgen Greubel, Dieter Rams and, of course, Gabriel Lluelles would share their ideas to create new products. In 1965, Braun introduced the MPZ-1 Citruspress, a well-designed but still slightly simplified juicer with not too many moving parts.

MPZ1 with two juice outlets for two glasses

Citromatic MPZ-2. Braun’s star trio, with the newly added Lluelles, stepped in to create the second generation of the juicer. And here they hit the nail on the head with a simple design that makes it easy to both juice and clean. The Citromatic MPZ-2 from Spain has a motor and a mechanism that makes the top turn. It’s extremely simple and easy to repair if it breaks.

But what is special is that the upper half is easily separated and divided into pieces, which makes cleaning between preparations easier because it is as easy as removing them and putting them under the tap. The only moving part that is susceptible to breakage is easily replaceable and also has a function that is revolutionary in this model: it moves up and down to cut off the flow of juice and change the cup.

Not flawless but still for sale. The Citromatic MPZ-2 has some design similarities with the Minipimer MR2, and personally, in my childhood memories, both in my own house and in the houses of my friends, this juicer is seen as the protagonist of the kitchen counter. And also a yogurt maker, which seems to have become fashionable, where everyone should make their own yogurt.

The juicer may not be perfect because you can not regulate the amount of pulp that falls into the cup because it only has two filters: the upper one and a series of grids in the interior with a generous size between them, but overall it is a design that is still up to date. So much so that it continues to sell but unfortunately it is no longer the same as when we were children.

First of all it is no longer called ‘Citromatic’, it is no longer made in Spain and although it is from Braun it is not from the same Braun. It is now owned by a North American multinational and in 2006 they decided to close the Esplugues factory to move production to countries with cheaper labour such as China. 700 direct jobs were wasted, but also several hundred indirect jobs in the Catalan region were wasted.

The charming Jony Ive. But the proof that the design of Lluelles, Rams and Greubel is eternal is that, as we said, the Citromatic continues to sell (although not with the same materials and we would have to see if the engine power was as high). It is an interesting story that Jony Ive, Apple’s Design Director and who was in charge of the company from 1992 to 2019, fell in love with the Citromatic MPZ-2:

“When I was a kid growing up in London, my parents bought me a wonderful juicer. It was a Braun MPZ 2 Citromatic. I knew nothing about Dieter Rams or his ten principles of good design. But for a young kid not interested in juice, I remember the Citromatic with striking clarity. Its surfaces were bold, pure, perfectly proportioned, consistent, and there was an honest connection between their flawless surfaces and the materials they were made from.

“It was obviously made of the best materials, not the cheapest. No part of it seemed hidden, all the details were appropriate and matched the characteristics of the product. At a glance I knew exactly what it was and how to use it. It was convenient to make a juice: a static object that perfectly described the process it was performing. Although my memories are of course in the past tense, the product is still very much a part of me. I remember with astonishing clarity almost forty years later how this object affected me so deeply.

Pictures | Braun, Alejandro Alcolea, Kippelboy

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