Ceramics of Italy Reports on 2024 Tile Trends
New York, NY, July 19, 2024-At the 2024 edition of Coverings in Atlanta, Georgia, Ceramics of Italy manufacturers showcased the ever-evolving advancements in ceramic and porcelain tile from an aesthetic and technological point of view. Pulling insight from the world of design, fashion and film, along with the trend scene on the show floor at Coverings, tile trend expert and artist Cristina Faedi breaks down this season's top five styles and applications in Italian ceramics.
BEYOND REALISM: Nature has always been a key inspiration in design, and Italian manufacturers are continuing to innovate in graphic printing and finishing techniques to artfully reproduce the nuanced look and feel of natural materials in a hyper-realistic way. Marble and stone varieties feature a worn tactile, highly variegated surface effect with typical irregularities, depicting ceppo di gre stone, sedimentary rock, cement, and slate with an almost crumbling surface appearance.
BEYOND GRANDEUR: As a storied material, tile has long been synonymous with sophistication and elegance. This year, manufacturers continued to push the boundaries of grandeur, showcasing exaggerated veining in vertical, diagonal, horizontal, and bookmatched patterns, like Energie Ker’s Crystal Sea, to bring an essence of bold luxury into a space. Collections including Coem’s Sinai and Provenza’s Varana Stone showcase classic, highly coveted stone and marble varieties that are intentionally paired with neutral colors like mother-of-pearl, talc, and chalk to create interesting plays on light and add brightness, while featuring intriguing, soft-to-the-touch matte and glossy finishes. Further, exotic and semi-precious gemstones are shown with a captivating combination of greys, golden yellows, rust, green, purple, and burnt browns with strong, detailed veining throughout.
BEYOND THE RAINBOW: Color alters the mood of every environment, and this year, Italian manufacturers embraced a rainbow of colors that play with the chromatic nuances of ceramic. Green continued to dominate color palettes, with forest, mint, and sage hues used in a range of stone, onyx, cement, and brick varieties like those from Ergon and Elios Ceramica, alongside leaf and botanical wallpaper looks. A variety of collections, such as Fioranese’s Senza Tempo, also showcase Tuscan-inspired cotto-effects, rich in details and shading, to exude the deep tones of terracotta. On the lighter side, pastels from light yellow, sky blue, and powder pinks were seen in soft cement.
BEYOND DECORATION: While traditional ceramic decors, like hexagonal formats, remain constant, Italian manufacturers are becoming increasingly imaginative when it comes to form. Contemporary takes on classic shapes with pops of color like CIR Ceramiche’s Italica and Appiani’s Pastelli are popular, while angular, geometrical forms are being mixed with rounded shapes as in ABK’s Sensi Fantasy and Lea Ceramiche’s Intense lines to create a more defined look.
BEYOND THE EXPECTED: Thanks to the incredible, high-performance qualities of ceramic and porcelain tile-such as extreme durability, stain- and scratch-resistance and a 50+ year lifespan-the material’s installation potential is continuing to evolve well beyond traditional floor and wall surfacing applications, allowing endless prefabricated possibilities throughout interior spaces, especially in the kitchen and bath. Large slabs like those from Materia, Del Conca, and La Fabbrica’s AVA-ranging from 12 to 20mm-are becoming a popular surfacing option on kitchen counters and table tops in lieu of stone, while in the bath, various Italian manufacturers have begun producing their own lines of bathroom furnishings, which include wall-mounted ceramic washbasins, drawer-vanities, and sinks. Additionally, ceramic tile continues to expand to the outdoors.
Related Topics: CERAMICS OF ITALY, Coverings