Concrete in All its Forms

The exhibition Concrete in All its forms is reopening throughout August at the UQAM Centre de Design in Montréal, Canada. Created by artist and architect Mark West, the exhibition takes the traditional conception of concrete and turns it on its head. ThisThe works are a surreal mix, absorbing elements of architecture and structure and transforming concrete into something less industrial and rigid, to something that … Continue reading Concrete in All its Forms

Plastic Stone Tiles

Materials master Enis Akiev has taken surface experimentation to another level. For the past few years she has taken inspiration from an eclectic selection of substances. A project at Hong Kong Polytechnic University led to the exploration of a cellulose creation from kombucha bacteria utilising black tea and various sugar solutions and heat treatment to develop skin-like materials that can be dyed with fruit juice. Continue reading Plastic Stone Tiles

Kaza concrete terrazzo designs

Transforming Terrazzo

A whole new range of precast terrazzo tiles has come to Kaza Concrete. Employing a curious variety of shapes and formats, this collection gives a new lease of life to this centuries old building material. The modular pieces have been designed to give freedom and a wide choice of layout possibilities. Some standard shapes, such as triangles and hexagons feature, although it is those with … Continue reading Transforming Terrazzo

BlingCrete luminous concrete sparkling glass beads light reflecting surface

Bring the Bling

Concrete is no longer simply the dull grey surface that gets hidden under something more stylish- it is now becoming something of a modern look to crave (see, for example, Andrea Maffei’s DOT or Kaza Concrete‘s successful rebranding of concrete as a luxurious material). Companies like Lucem have taken it to another level, embedding LEDs to create luminous building materials that provide an atmospheric glow. … Continue reading Bring the Bling

Matrice by Cedit

Sensory Structures

For Cedit’s Matrice collection, Brondi and Rainò have taken various concrete-inspired surfaces and imagined additional design reverberations, using 3mm deep incised graphic marks cut into the slabs. These provide a framework for infinite design combinations when grouted in bold colours. This recalls embroidery where every stitch is at right-angles to another one to construct forms and decorations. Continue reading Sensory Structures

Integrated Inspiration

Mutina Accents is the latest piece of evidence that Mutina is a company that celebrates following a bold new approach to ceramics … no longer conceived as a mere material for making tiles but as an interior design project. Continue reading Integrated Inspiration

Concrete Collaboration

Concreto by Lea explores the possibilities of concrete through a hyper-realistic representation of cement surfaces. The design process started with aesthetic and material analysis to fully capture the features of the material. These were then warped and selectively emphasised so that the different textures and colours of cement could become the range’s background. Continue reading Concrete Collaboration

Progressive Patchwork

With the additional element of three chromatic variations, the Origini range from Imso Ceramice also includes original ‘broken’ decorative pieces, that look as if they have been smashed and then put together again. Furthermore, the tonality of all Origini backgrounds is slightly different, which adds particular charm to the entire series. Continue reading Progressive Patchwork

Turning Back The Years: Pt 2

Tile surfaces resembling natural textures have been around for some years now. One influence remains natural fibres, such as seagrass and coir, but the relief surfaces have become subtler, with new decoration techniques giving a false perception of depth of relief: thereby improving the cleanability of the tile’s surface. Timber effects are still surprisingly prominent. The look now is more towards simulating distressed and aged timber floors, and the darker hues of heat-treated woods and exotic rain forest timbers. In terms of format, the trends is away from parquet-effects towards larger planks – just as it is in the actual wood flooring market today. Continue reading Turning Back The Years: Pt 2