The walls are the boundaries of a hypothetical stage on which we act out our day-to-day lives. A place constantly in search of beauty, through the aesthetic path of interior design. Architects tend to use the shape of a room and the finishes used in it to seek an aesthetic formula which not only makes it pleasant to spend time in a place but also encourages thought and reflection on our day-to-day actions by accompanying them as they are repeated. Examples are the bathroom in the home or the hall in a hotel, where the same actions are repeated over and over again every day, following the same paths, meeting the same needs and constantly seeking either isolation or company. And yet these two places are not the same all over the world, due to either cultural differences or continually changing human needs. The theatre of interiors, the space in which everyday life takes place, therefore assumes different forms of expression, both in terms of architectural spaces and in terms of the finishes used in interiors. We shall leave the first consideration up to various theories and methods, and focus on the second. For the stage on which we act out our daily lives changes depending on the designer's aesthetic choices, sometimes to the point that it can influence users' actions. While space creates a perspective view of the room, through lights and shadows or through glimpses and directions, the finishes used in interior decoration qualify these design choices, making the room a scenic representation of everyday life, opting for different design possibilities such as: hot/cold, austere/casual, playful/reserved, etc.
Ceramics, thanks to their mimetic capabilities, manage to cover the full spectrum of possibilities, not only taking on one of these qualities on the basis of the collection chosen but helping to conserve spaces, as they are long-lasting and not subject to wear. If we look at what the market has to offer, we can easily see that many companies can meet these design and technical requirements with their range of sizes and surface finishes. But not all of them can help to create the scenery for the interior stage. On example of a company that provides a complete response to this need is Iris Ceramica, with its new products introduced in 2011.
My Wall offers a wide range of colours, all sophisticated half-tones ranging from warm to cold colours, leaving designers free to express their own ideas of the stage of everyday life. And the typical surface finishes make the collection a tactile one, so that the motion of light and minor tone-on-tone variations in hue express colours, rarefying the big surfaces they cover and qualifying the little details of standard rooms.
Another scenic collection is the E-Wood collection, in which five natural colours reproduce the structure of strips of wood, permitting creation of warm yet highly resistant scenes. Emotions and references that make a ceramic surface the ideal backdrop for a peaceful, repetitive day-to-day routine that is almost archetypical, both in the acts performed and in the cladding materials.
Lastly, the Pink and Green colours from the Rays collection complete a rarefied, almost powdery colour palette ideal for interiors in which memory is the principal expressive quality. Ceramics become a gleaming skin which wraps around the space so that it is perceived in an individual way. A silent theatricality that surrounds people moving through the spaces it covers.
In conclusion, Iris Ceramica manages to add aesthetic quality to theatrical interiors through light and refraction, colour and skin, with products that become backdrops for the material and immaterial qualities of everyday life.

by Paolo Schianchi

PRODUCTS MENTIONED

My Wall
My wall, ceramic bathroom wall coverings in delicate warm and cold hues.

E-Wood
E-wood, porcelain stoneware reproducing the warmth of wood - Iris Ceramica

Rays
Rays by Iris Ceramica, lively, brightly coloured bathroom and kitchen tiles