26-05-2020

Improving the use of space in today’s new living spaces: Maximum maxi-slabs

Style:Design, rivestimenti, contemporary,

TAGS:tabletop, Prize, Kitchen countertop, GranitiFiandre, top bathroom,

Our relationship with the spaces we live in is a priority of design, especially now that our social and personal habits are changing. One very important design solution is use of high-tech ceramic maxi-slabs such as GranitiFiandre’s Maximum: the perfect combination of technical performance and aesthetic qualities, in a product that responds to many of the requirements of daily living

Other photos...

One of the many aspects of life we need to reconsider in post-Covid-19 design is human use of space, that is, the science of proxemics.

A cross-cutting discipline, in the field of design proxemics is concerned with "situations of contact and non-contact between people, and examines the personal distances that are automatically established in groups of people standing waiting for public transport or queuing at the post office", as described by Bruno Munari in his famous manual Da cosa nasce cosa (1981).

As we are all realising at the moment, these issues are more relevant than ever now that social life is starting again, not only for designers and architects but for anyone attempting to build, renovate or update their home or business.

The situation is not entirely new to us, for people have altered their relationship with space and objects many times over the past few decades, without the obligations imposed on them by a medical emergency, but as a way of adapting to new types of construction. Examples include shopping malls, as well as today’s museums, airports, train stations and sporting facilities.

Our relationship with domestic space has also changed repeatedly as we have introduced new technologies and learned to make the most of small spaces, such as the disappearing kitchens and storage cabinets used in small apartments and studio flats.

Moreover, as Munari states in his reflections, differences in our relationship with the space around us are cultural.

In the traditional Japanese home, for instance, "all the space is usable (...) without pre-defined furnishings and rooms, you can be wherever you want", changing the size of spaces using traditional strip windows and mobile walls.

In this way there is a total unity between indoors and outdoors, making the most of the zen concept of emptiness, which is what the space we live in actually is, while the walls are merely the boundaries of the void.

This shares a common goal with our many other sources of inspiration for reflection on our relationship with space: improving quality of life, which has always been the goal of design.

In contemporary design the design of surfaces now plays a key role because of the importance of easy cleaning and sanitisation, and the inalterability and resistance of materials.

High-tech ceramic maxi-slabs offer a solution that improves quality of life and makes the most of real and perceived space.

Maxi-slabs offer the utmost freedom and flexibility of design while maintaining their original look over the years thanks to the unique properties of porcelain, as in the Maximum collection by GranitiFiandre, the largest slabs currently available on the high-tech ceramic market.

Drawing on decades of experience of the Iris Ceramica Group, of which GranitiFiandre is one of the top brands, Maximum ceramic maxi-slabs drastically reduce the number of gaps per unit, while the vast range of sub-multiples guarantees great versatility to respond to all requirements. Spaces are covered and reinterpreted on the basis of new formal canons with a substantial impact on design.

An extremely light material (weighing only 14 kg per square metre in the 300x150x6 mm size), Maximum ensures easy laying and maintenance, and is particularly recommended for covering walls in residential and commercial buildings, both indoors and out.

The Maximum collections include a great variety of Marbles.

The radiance of these surfaces, their prestigious, elegant details and their large size "add to the perceived value of spaces, underlining the designer’s stylistic choices and the client’s desires".

All while maintaining the material’s advanced performance in terms of resistance and easy cleaning, typical of beautiful high-tech porcelain.

The three versions presented here differ in colour, but all give spaces the refined yet delicate atmosphere typical of the best marbles.

From black Sahara Noir, with its precious, easily recognisable veins, come subtle yet intense effects of light and shadow, underlined by a matt or glossy finish.

The delicate pale blue of Azul Macaubas, with its greyish-white stripes and touches of gold and beige, adds grace and a touch of luxury to any kind of space.

Travertino Maximum, recently awarded the 2020 AD Great Baths Award, represents the perfect combination of classic and contemporary, and, "symbolic of classicism and beauty in art and architecture, goes above and beyond any passing trend".

Fiandre’s Marmi Maximum are innovative, versatile solutions for a great variety of applications offering guaranteed resistance and easy maintenance.
Space has a great impact on human life, and the timeless look of maxi-slabs makes the spaces we live in serene and satisfying, significantly improving our experience and the quality of our time in the buildings we live in.

Marco Privato

GALLERY