Ceramic flooring is, as everyone knows, made of up units of different sizes, and how they are presented to architects is very important, as it can suggest possible uses to them. At Cersaie, the international exhibition of ceramics for construction and bathroom furnishings, Ariostea proposed an innovative display space designed by Marco Porpora giving free rein to architects’ creative interpretation.
At CERSAIE 2012 Ariostea set up a space for architectural design, like an ideal construction site, designed by architect Marco Porpora. The project provided an excellent opportunity to reflect on the quality of floor and wall coverings and shed light on the design potential of ceramics.
Presenting porcelain stoneware tiles is one of the challenges of visual design in this project, for as the tiles have different sizes, finishes, colours and technical qualities they would require an infinite number of display units to represent all their qualities, and a showroom, however comprehensive, risks clipping the wings of the architects? freedom of expression. Architect Marco Porpora overcame this challenge by creating a “place of materials” with the aim of offering architects visiting the stand a summary of the process, both conceptual and hands-on, which takes place between the design, preparation in the laboratory and final use of each and every tile making up a porcelain stoneware surface.
A construction consisting of a structural grid of tubes with a square section, painted white, bounded the space which visitors walk through, which was set up as a “workshop of ideas” with sections enclosed by suspended porcelain stoneware tiles. Its open, modular structure revealed all the possible shapes and sizes of Ariostea products, from the traditional sizes to the new maxi formats, innovative slabs and the extra-large sizes of the Ultra project, getting to the heart of creativity through emotions. Visitors were therefore given an opportunity to imagine the completion of the various theme areas, arranged like little construction projects. This simple structure enriched with floor and wall tiles introduced a second degree of propensity to sales: the emotional level, with emotional involvement generated through skilful architectural use of visual perspectives and the rhythmic modularity of the weight-bearing structure.
It is interesting to note how use of a few highly appropriate signs in this exhibition project allowed Marco Porpora to add a third dimension to the visual experience supporting the material, technical and conceptual qualities of the product on display, blending ceramic tiles, the company?s ideas, the qualities of design and emotions in a single showroom experience.
And so the trade fair welcomed this Ariostea construction site featuring all the design qualities and innovative features required to display porcelain stoneware floor and wall coverings.
COMPANY MENTIONED:
Ariostea, Porcelain Stoneware for Floor and Wall Coverings
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