tiles and their place in history has held a longstanding fascination for me. undulating in popularity, i believe the european aesthetic have greatly assisted in their comeback, as sustainable floor and wall finish they have in contemporary architecture resurfaced on the surface. facades and even roofs are tiled as a growing number of architects reinvents their use and bow to their versatility. the commotion at cersaie the annual ceramic tile expo in bologna, italy is the it event for innovation and sees the likes of italian mosaic wizards like bisazza releasing their new ranges of collaborations with artists and designers.
having portuguese in-laws and with the portuguese landing in south africa in the fifteenth century, i had to accept the azulejos as part of my own heritage. in istanbul i fell in love with the historic islamic patterned tiles; mesmerizing motifs and patterns. in the netherlands on the other hand, going back to my roots as a south african (ex-dutch colony of the seventeenth century); what else? delft. the spaniards and italians had their own flavour of the same thing and coming to think of it, i cannot understand why this tradition hasn’t woken us to the fact that unlike other non-renewable natural resources like marble, stone and such, to consider ceramic tiles the competitive choice; in flexibility and functionality they certainly rate good, better and best.
with so many blogs to read and sift through, the dribble, quagmire of design irrelevance, to get a sensible site is a joy. deborah osburn writes, compiles and selects a great collection of inspiring images on her blog tile envy to complement her bespoke ranges of tiles at tilevera. always a pleasure.
