We first admired the renaissance of 3D tiles last year at the opening of
Harrod’s revamped Fresh Market Hall, where Cristina Celestino’s ‘Plumage’
design by Botteganove added glamorous texture. Since then, we’ve been
treated to a growing number of innovative options, with the trend really
making its mark during this year’s Milan Design Week at the ‘Perfect
Darkness’ installation. Created by H+O (a collaboration between Josephine
Akvama Hoffmeyer of Danish studio File Under Pop and Italian designer
Elisa Ossino), the display showcased the possibilities available with tiles,
presenting them as an exciting alternative to paint and wallpaper.
When it comes to stretching the boundaries of this type of surface, few
have done more than Finnish designer Jonas Lutz. For his surrealist ‘Guts’
tiles, he had to develop a new technique to create all of their bodily lumps
and bumps. Lutz carved the shapes directly into plaster, then filled the
cavity with liquid clay to make 20 different patterned moulds that all fit
together to form a seamless pattern. ‘The name comes from the texture,
but also from the name of the tool I used, which in Dutch is called a guts,’
he says. ‘It creates the feeling that you are inside the belly of a giant being.’
Of course, the avant-garde Italians are also spearheading this architectural
tile revival. Venice-based Zaven has designed the vividly coloured ‘Rilievi’
range, inspired by the work of artist and activist Nino Caruso during the
1960s and 70s, while Marazzi has launched the ‘Eclettica’ collection, with
its tasteful wave and diamond shapes. Whatever your style, from geometric
to gutsy, there’s a design that will give your walls a new dimension.THE SURFACETHREE - DIMENSIONA L
TILES
Forget dull, f lat walls – designers are bringing
ever more inventive and original texture to homes
(and it’s not just for the bathroom and kitchen!)