Vancouver-based architecture journalist Adele Weder has won an honourable mention in the 2019 Ceramics of Italy Journalism awards.
Her wining article, Sincere Forms of Flattery, appeared in Canadian Architect’s  February 2019 issue. It describes how ceramic tiles designed to imitate materials such as marble may become the only ethical and sustainable choice, once the original materials have been depleted.
The Pietra d?Iseo collection by Cotto d?Este is inspired by the ceppo di grè stone extensively used in Milan.
“The appearance and texture of ‘wood look’ ceramic tiling is astonishing in verisimilitude. That is, until you actually touch it and feel the cold, hard surface of something that is emphatically not wood. Petrified wood, perhaps. But clearly a much more functional design solution for bathrooms. And clearly a more ethical solution than clearcutting the world?s rainforests.”
 she writes.
The texture and grain of wood is convincingly replicated in Isla?s Essence tiles.
“Alternatively, perhaps designers could advise, educate and encourage their clients to choose an alternative material to actual endangered wood?or an alternative ceramic pattern to a material imposter.”
Caesar Ceramics? Trace tiles skillfully imitate the look of weathered metal.
The jury was chaired by Emilio Mussini of Confindustria Ceremica, and also included journalists Ilaria Vesntini, Cristina Mandrini, Davide Cattaneo, and Andrea Serri.
The prize inclu...