In the design industry, few materials can match the assets and adaptability of ceramic tile. In recent years, its remarkable shape-shifting capabilities have been industrialized to the point where ceramic tiling can seem to transform into any material imaginable. With ultra-high resolution scans of actual marble or stone slabs, combined with a manufacturing process that allows precisely calibrated surface textures, you can source uncannily realistic simulacra of marble, stone, wood and concrete, as well as a growing array of human-made materials like textiles and wallpaper. It is, for sure, impressive. Is it desirable"
Edward Burtynsky?s Carrara Marble Quarries, Cava di Canalgrande #2 shows the massive scale of resource extraction. Photo © Edward Burtynsky, courtesy Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto The verisimilitude was on display in full force at the most recent Cersaie exhibition, held in Bologna last fall. Cersaie?the Italian acronym for the International Exhibition of Ceramic Tile and Bathroom Furnishings?presents architects, designers and journalists with a huge interactive encyclopedia cum yearbook of notable products and developments. And the show demonstrates the ever-increasing chameleon-like properties of ceramic tiling. Stall after stall displayed immersive dioramas of ?marble look? panels so large and so intricately patterned that the lay eye is hard-pressed to differentiate it from the real thing.
Panera Ceramica?s Zero.3 Eternity products imitate marb...