Spy glimpses of nature and flecks of fibre through the unique surface of Organoid. This sensual material takes organic matter and transforms it into decor like no other, complete with texture, detail, and scent. Established in 2013 by Martin Jehart and Mag. Christoph Egger, Organoid blends the beauty of petals, seeds, and hay and forms them into a backing, High Pressure Laminate, flooring, and acoustic … Continue reading Organic magic at Organoid
Hilighting Brazilian history in a trio of wooden tile collections is the beautiful Brasiliana. Created in a collaboration between wood transforming specialists Oca Brasil and surface designer Renata Rubim, the Brasiliana Collection restores cultural heritage in the most beautiful way. Three different periods – Tribal, Colonial, and Modernist – inspire the designs, each of which is handcrafted in solid, reforested teak, eucalyptus, or valchromat (fully … Continue reading A History of Brazil in Wooden Tiles
Waste-made tiles are always a delight, and these creations by Norwegian studio Snøhetta is no exception. These prototypes crafted in collaboration with Italian manufacturers Fornace Brioni and Belgian designers Studio Plastique have found a new potential home for materials rarey recycled. Microwave and oven glass and glass from electronic goods are widely regarded as unrecycleable due to their varied compositions, treatments, and finishes. But rather … Continue reading Tiles made from microwaves
Back in 2019 we shared one of our favourite tile-centred eco projects – Volvo’s Living Seawall. Now, three years on (and on Earth Day) we thought we’d have a look at how things have changed. Continue reading Update: The Living Seawall
Another of our Surface Design Show discoveries is surface designer Emily Hatton. Based in Bournemouth, Hatton creates from the waste up, experimentally casting both household and industrial waste to assess aesthetic value and product potential. Continue reading Emily Hatton Design
It’s not a tile but it could be – PHEE-board is an innovative surface made from seagrass Posidonia Oceanica and biological resins. The dead leaf is usually washed up in large quantities along the Mediterranean where is it gathered and discarded as waste, but now it has a new home. Continue reading PHEE-board
Enjoy ceramics with a huge range of curious features and finishes with this selection of five unique, alternative glazes from around the world. Continue reading Five Incredible Alternative Glazes
Founded in 2015 by Daria Biryukova, Studio Mixtura works with industries and organizations to create and design functional and benficial solutions to waste produced in manufacturing. Continue reading Studio Mixtura
Recycling spent ceramics back into production is an important aim to increase the sustainability of mass produced tableware and tiles. Though we’ve covered the work of Hanneke de Leeuw of Fabrique Pu which makes use of discarded vases, mugs, and plates, today’s feature takes the process a step further. Continue reading OTT Korean glaze
We’ve covered a lot of repurposed waste here – from shells to slag, paper to plastic, and from tea to pee, and today we add another to that list -ceramics. Though it may seem like an obvious step in eco design, repurposing waste from ceramic production isn’t straight forward, mainly due to the complications various glazes pose. Continue reading Recyling Ceramics
Natural design is all the rage. Bringing us a sense of comfort and working to ground us in a world flipped on its head, there’s really something to be said for organic shapes, textures, and materials. Seeking a connection with the environment is something humans have done for millenia, as is finding ways to use the ground beneath our feet to construct spaces that keep … Continue reading Raw Earth
We’re always up for a novel bit of glazing, and especially one that creatively utilises waste. But today’s feature deifnitely takes experimentation a little farther than we’re used to. With urine. Continue reading Peeing on porcelain
We’ve taken a look at various surfaces made from unusual materials – notably tiles from salt created by Chilean architect Mále Uribe Forés, sunflower surfaces from Thomas Vailly, and algae infused tiles from the Bio-Integrated Design Lab – and today we’re sharing something that utilises all three – Frank Gehry’s tower for the Luma Foundation in Arles. The project’s innovative material use is designed to … Continue reading Sunflowers, Salt, and Seaweed
A curious contraption aims to reduce plastic waste by eliminating complexity. Two units (one 40ft container housing the processing line and one 20ft solar cell unit) make up a recycling line capable of upcyling up to 50kg of waste each hour. This system, known as Trashpresso, takes three simple steps to transform plastic bottles into tiles: size-reduction, purification, and reshaping. Firstly the machine shreds plastic … Continue reading Trashpresso
We have an exciting recycled waste materital to share today. Montreal-based Dear Human, a visual arts and design collaborative formed by Jasna Sokolovic and Noel O’Connell in 2010, has a few unique creations up its sleeve, one in particular is exactly the kind of thing that Tile Addict’s love. They’re tiles, but made from paper. Using 100% post-consumer paper collected from local businesses, these tiles … Continue reading Paper Tiles from Dear Human
A few years ago we first covered Durat. Finding such a versatile, eco material that was as beautiful and customisable as the multicoloured, terrazzo flecked, recycled plastic Durat gave us a fresh burst of enthusiasm for the future of surface design. And now they’ve added even more to their range. Durat Palace, developed in collaboration with Dutch design agency MOST Collective has added four new … Continue reading A few shades more
An unexpected source of sustainable building materials is being explored by Eindhoven-based designer and founder of Studio Thomas Vailly Thomas Vailly. Collaborating with scientists from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Ingénieurs en Arts Chimiques Et Technologiques (ENSIACET) laboratory, Vailly has focused his efforts on transforming bio-waste from sunflowers into design solutions. It’s extremely exciting to see a trend towards designers, architects, engineers, artists, and manufacturers … Continue reading Sunflower Surfaces
Mushrooms are helping to create a huge range of eco materials due to their unique properties – such as Muskin (a leather replacement), Mycoprotein (a fungi-derived meat replacement), Pestalotiopsis microspora (a plastic-consuming mushroom), manipulated mycelium (which makes up mushroom root networks) walls, and bio-bricks. But the miraculous use of this natural material doesn’t stop there. A partnership between architect Dirk Hebel and engineer Philippe Block … Continue reading Functional Fungi
It’s important to recognise the waste produced by modern living, in issue prevalent in all industries including construction, architecture, and interior design. Although large strides are being made in the way products are created, be it through using sustinable materials, circular production models, recycling and repurposing, or through innovations that seek to reduce emissions, we’re not close to solving the problem. Something to get us … Continue reading Claiming Time with Reclaimed Tiles
Last year we explored three of Surface Matter‘s offerings – Bencore, Durat, and Richlite – demonstrating the unique properties found in each, and highlighting the value they add to the world of construction and design. And now we have the pleasure of sharing their newest addition – Stratum – a continuation of Richlite with the added durability of birch. Their other Richlite products found success … Continue reading Surface Matter’s Stratum Selection
