Following the trend of slow fashion, the emerging preference is for slow design, emphasizing a more deliberate and timeless approach to the aesthetics and functionality of products. The product lifecycle and sustainability is reigning just as important as the visual itself. Good design is eco friendly design and now more than ever, there’s a spotlight on specifying materials made with Mother Earth in mind.
The Color Palette:
Raw earth tones and natural dyes are the drivers for this color palette. Inspiration is derived from organics used to make colored textiles like wild berries, mustard seed, and hennas and compacted sands and soils used in ancient architecture.
This is a quietly expressive palette with warm, desaturated hues. The desire for sustainability drives these colors as they envoke feelings of permanence: spaces are designed to outlast all of us and feel like one with planet Earth. This palette also features a soft charcoal reminiscent of soot, and warm adobe-like browns and taupes.
The Tiles:
Inspired by ancient architecture, Compatta pays homage to ancient rammed earth construction techniques of impacted sands and soils. The natural decorative effect of the layers of raw earth are remniscent of rural African homes dating back to 800 BCE.
Designed by Fredrico Peri, Peri pays homage to Gio Ponti, Roberto Burle Marxe, and William Mitchell with the line’s decorative pieces. The shapes and curves create a marriage between modernism and brutalism, making this line feel highly architectural juxtaposed with a primative nature.
Plimatech
Plimatech is a tactile granite visual with varying levels of mica and mineral deposits. The design is inspired by quarried stone adorning
the same Plima name from the Martell Valley in the Alto Adige region. Plima granite was first discovered by a curious local businessman in
the 1980s, who had a large boulder cut from the banks of the Plima stream. In this cross section, the stone was revealed to have distinctive
crystalline formations, unique light-dark mottling, and a glittering blue-grey hue, reimagined as a porcelain in the Plimagrey color. This
collection also presents two new iterations of the stone in white and beige hues.
Biotech
Biotech checks all of the boxes for the specifier looking to achieve a high end natural stone look while being environmentally conscious. This line focuses on five different stone motifs that cover a wide range of looks within contemporary organic architecture. Consider this line to be more of a true “collective” of styles versus more traditional offerings of one visual available in different colors. The natural stones emulated in this collection are crema marfil (crema stone), wooden white marble (stonewood), Nordic Grey (lapis greige), Soap stone (aptly named soap stone), and a flamed/granite stone (serizzo stone).
Dijon
Dijon is modeled after Pierre de Bourgogne stone flooring, a french limestone dating back to the 15th century from the Bourdeaux region of
France.
This french burgundy limestone look has been a highly sought after trend this year, and is perfectly captured by our stocked color, Couches. Our profile also includes three mosaic options: traditional hexagons and 2x2 squares, and a more contemporary option of round-cornered rectangles aptly called Soap.
Breezeblocks
Breezeblocks have been used for decades in architecture and design as a visually pleasing solution for shade and ventilation. The latest revival of breezeblocks bring on a contemporary and interesting twist, adding three dimensional interest to any space.
Spatula
Originally inspired by Roman and Greek pillars, fluted tile has taken the design world by storm and this fresh interpretation answers
the call to a new post modern era and embraces the unconventional.
Mand
Pastelli is a new unglazed throughbody mosaic program. Suitable for almost any application, these mosaics can be placed indoor, outdoor, submerged, and along curved walls. Because of it’s Bioshield+ technology, Pastelli has anti-stain & anti-moulding properties.
More Inspiring Tiles from the trend: