In Tonalite’s Cerchio system, circular tiles are combined with a highly engineered self-supporting galvanised steel sub-structure. It can be used to create innovative architectural forms with strong formal coherence and 3D forms. Continue reading Tipping Tonalite
From 6th to 8th February 2018 the Surface Design Show returns to London’s Business Design Centre, Islington, showcasing some of the freshest and most compelling surfaces that the design industry has to offer. Continue reading Surface Surprises
Close to 20,000 hand-made ceramic tiles were used during the construction of the vaulted Mortuary Chapel for the Soriano-Manzanet family in Villarea, Spain, once tests had been carried out to determine the appropriate type of clay and firing regime. Texture, durability and aging tests were also undertaken. Continue reading Vaulted Valediction
Cevisama is a really good excuse to visit the delightful and visually-exciting city of Valencia. The city really shines in two areas: food and architecture. It is hard to get a bad meal in Valencia; providing you stick to Spanish and Valencian menus. Valencia is also a wonderful city for architecture. The old city offers a taste of historical splendour; while The City of Arts and Sciences is a modernist must. Continue reading Viva Valencia
A departure from the soft, romantic effects of the other trends, weathered is a style with staying power. From stones with scratch marks and colored rustic planks to rusted tin tiles and oxidized metals, these tiles mirror an ongoing fascination with unfinished spaces, worn surfaces and vintage effects. Continue reading Weathered Wistfulness
Moving beyond the celebrity of millenial pink, shades of blush, lavender, sea green and pale yellow can be found in dozens of floor and wall tiles. Less saturated than primary colors, pastels create a light, soft and calming effect, which dovetails with a few other trends from this year from Painterly to Nostalgia. Continue reading Pastel Progression
People often look to design for an escape and in this current political climate it’s unsurprising that tile manufacturers are turning to the past to bring people a euphoric boost. Continue reading Nostalgia Nuanced
Designers and brands frequently look to other cultures for inspiration, which are exemplified in this year’s tile introductions. Continue reading Going Global
Earth Tones continue to engage and enthuse tile designers. Drawing their main inspiration from natural elements, a wide range of Italian tiles fall into this theme. Colour palettes range from dirt, clay and sand inspired browns; forest, moss and grass-like greens; red and golden tones reminiscent of the sun; and shades of blue to evoke an oceanic feel. This trend has become popular partially due to a revival of 1970s style along with a greater focus on mother nature and its ability to create a sense of natural serenity. Continue reading Earthy Energy
Tile companies are constantly seeking new ways to add movement and volume to the flat surface, whether by texture, pattern, or trompe l’oeil effects. Continue reading Decoration Deconstructed
While floral designs have been around since decorative tile was invented, botanical is a new trend that reflects two movements in the design industry. The first is a focus on health and wellness and the incorporation of the natural world into interiors. Meanwhile, the influence of tropical modernism has seeped into interiors and product design, shown by the abundance of palm, cacti and other flora-inspired patterns. Continue reading Bountiful Botanicals
Mutina’s new Cover collection marks one of Patrica Urquiola’s first ventures with large ceramic slabs made using Continua Plus technology. Here, the clay is blended with a mixture of micro-grit, which is then used as a base for the coloured patterns applied using silk-screens. Continue reading Uniquely Urquiola
“We wanted to capture the passion and obsession we have for tiles at every stage during the journey, highlighting facts such our locally sourced raw materials and our innovative manufacturing techniques to give customers a fuller understanding of what we do.” Jayne Adamson on British Ceramic Tile’s new corporate video. Continue reading Take A Tile Tour
As part of the Living With Art exhibition at Albion Barn, British artist and designer Richard Woods created a fantastical swimming pool using his iconic ‘wood’ pattern on ceramic tiles. The ‘wooden’ swimming pool is made up of large format porcelain tiles, each custom-printed with a woodgrain effect in a block print style. The heavily stylized cartoon-like wooden plank design is a signature of this London-based artist. Continue reading Cartoon Collaboration
Ceramica Portinari’s Backstage range, comes in three colours and two formats and brings to mind the subtle surface sculpting and deliberate imperfections of Mutina’s ground-breaking Déchirer range. But the real wow factor is the translucent option. Continue reading Translucent Tile Sensation
RIBA North is hosting Moulding Futures: Collaborative Explorations in Ceramics for Architecture symposium on Friday 8th December, a one-day event created by ECAlab and supported by Tile of Spain, the University of Liverpool and Leeds Beckett University. Continue reading Ceramic Collaborations
Industrial chic takes centre stage with British Ceramic Tile’s new HD Galvanised collection. Offering a glimmer of the unexpected, this metal-effect ceramic tile range brings surface textures to walls and provides the element of surprise at which today’s ceramic tiles truly excel. Continue reading Galvanised Glamour
Marca Corona Gallery, the historical archive of the Rubbiani Collection, was the source of inspiration for Marca Corona’s new small-format Maiolica collection in which tiling tradition is reinterpreted through one of its timeless guises: white and blue majolica. Innovative decoration techniques give these floor and wall tiles a thoroughly modern look, suitable for the most sophisticated and on-trend spaces. Continue reading Modern Maiolica Mastery
The Lidl supermarket chain has commissioned Liverpool’s Tile Fire to manufacture and install two bespoke tile murals depicting the towns history at their new store in Halstead, Essex. The murals were produced from photographs dating back to the early 1900s; one depicting the town centre and the other Halstead’s former train station. Continue reading Lidl Lights Up Tile Fire
Right now very few companies on the planet can match Aparici’s 2017/18 portfolio for sheer inventiveness, humour, tone, texture and graphic joie de vivre. Continue reading Apposite Aparici
