Regular readers of Diary of a Tile Addict will know that I am a big fan of the 3D tile designs produced in Brazil. One of the foremost exponents is Nina Martinelli. For 2018, this pioneering company has launched the Design Collection in Terracotta. This is an interesting variant on the more usual glazed 3D wall tile tiles, delivering warmth, texture and natural tones that chime well with today’s search for authenticity in interiors.
Nina Martinelli’s Design Collection offers a new surface option for both internal walls and external façades. It offers a timeless and sustainable material (ceramics) with on-trend reliefs and three-dimensional geometric forms. The range was inspired by the works of some of the great names of Italian architecture but also bears witness that pottery has been a material specified for some of the best of architecture world-wide for millennia. It is a material that makes the most of natural resources and enhances the quality of life in the cozy atmosphere it helps create and in its significant contribution towards making the urban landscape more beautiful and human. The Design Collection also offers other ceramic qualities, such as easy maintenance and high durability.
Nina Martinelli used and abused the plasticity of ceramics to create this range. Giotto was inspired by the work of the Italian painter and architect Giotto di Bondoni, a pioneer of perspective who adopted the visual language of sculptors. His works had volume and height, and the Giotto range applied on internal walls and external facades offers a beautiful three-dimensional sculptural appeal when used on internal walls or external façades.
The pieces in the Florence design feature fluid and sloping reliefs that respond dramatically in changes to the angle of light. And then there is Siena, a trapezoidal range that delivers an imposing finish that refers to iconic buildings from architectural history.
A new post by Joe Simpson, Diary of a Tile Addict, June 2018.