Porcelain stoneware’s key role in the contract industry

The ceramic tile is a surface covering which interacts with every aspect of design in the contract industry thanks to its status as both an icon and a practical object for use.

“Contract” is an umbrella term referring to architectural projects for construction, redevelopment and customisation of interiors requiring a contract of tender, as materials are supplied in large quantities or custom-made for the project.
There are two main aspects of the experience of working in the contract industry: articulation of space, or architectural design, and design of objects for use in this space, or interior decoration.
Porcelain stoneware is a material that comes somewhere in between the two, as it is both an architectural component, covering and becoming a part of the walls of the structure, and an object defining the identity of spaces thanks to its many different surface textures.

In the first case, moreover, it gives an architectural project all the technical qualities of frostproofing, scratch resistance and easy maintenance, while in the second case it fits perfectly with a great variety of iconographic choices for interior design, from the natural look of stone, marble or wood to the pop style, the vintage elegance of black and white or the most playful colour schemes.
In all cases designing a large hospitality complex such as a hotel, a wellness centre, a stadium, or even an office or residential development is always inspired by reflection on the place and its morphological, cultural, anthropological, technical and material qualities, motion in space and visual perception. This sequence of variables has in recent years given life to complexes which have become icons of architecture, changing the face of the land not only by altering its morphology but also in terms of social context and type of dwelling.
The experience of working in the contract industry has thus become a specialisation in the discipline of architecture involving the study of space, objects and communications. Hospitality is the perfect context for experimentation, in which the interior and the construction become an indivisible whole, giving rise to iconic buildings that reflect different concepts of design to become a holistic vision of a new form of architecture taking into account the construction’s overall image.

In this context porcelain stoneware is an important element even while remaining independent, with its own individual form of production and corporate identity, helping architects express the same iconic concept in the surfaces of walls and floors.

Just think how much an Eiffelgres tile can convey, to what extent it is itself an iconic study in structure and solid colour, as in the Sensibile series, with the Sign or Rise versions that play with light to reveal texture or conceal it in the first case, or play around with minimal relief in the second. Now it is easier to understand why we remember so many recent buildings by the materials used to cover them.
As in the case of architects who have taken advantage of the qualities of FMG’s Industrial Slabs collection, with the Roccia series in slate, beige, ash, mocha, ochre or obsidian to make man-made stone into an icon of living.

Ceramic tiles are elements which, whether taken from industrial catalogues or custom-designed for the occasion and produced in limited quantities, have helped create the visual identity of numerous constructions intended for hospitality, adding wellness for the environment too when combined with the Active programme.


PRODUCTS MENTIONED:

Sensible Collection Eiffelgres: tiles for indoor and outdoor by modern design
The collection Sensible shows a variety of 6 colors and a wide range of sizes, decorations and mosaics suitable for interior and exterior with modern design.

INDUSTRIAL SLABS "ROCCE", FMG Fabbrica Marmi e Graniti: Indoor and outdoor floorings and coverings.
Marble, stone, granite and travertine in technical ceramics. More than tiles.

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