2 minute read

celebrating ceramics

the catch-up

held annually in Bologna, Italy, Cersaie is the world’s premier tile exhibition. It is here that current ceramic innovations are displayed, and design trends established. Every year, National Tiles’ experienced buying team heads off to Italy to meet up with proven partners, while scanning the stands of over 600 ceramic manufacturers. And we are not alone. Last year’s show attracted more than 90,000 visitors.

On the design front, 2022’s dominant trend was wallpaper-effect tiles, produced in XXL formats from 1,000 by 3,000mm upwards. There were tropical plants aplenty, alongside smaller floral patterns. The variety was staggering, spanning everything from orchids to giant jellyfish. The influences were rich and varied, from street art and graffiti, through woven fabric and crisp geometric prints, to origami, abstract art, and marquetry.

Richly detailed, and painstakingly coloured, marble-effect tiles also made a strong impression at Cersaie 2022. This is a design category deﬁned by constant evolution. So, rather than change the fundamentals of classics like

Calacatta or Statuario, the top factories have added new details and nuances, from book-match patterns to enhanced surface structures. Digital decoration can now deliver marble-effect tiles with raised veining and subtle tactile imperfections. These cutting-edge faux marbles deliver a total sensory experience; one felt by the hand as clearly as it is seen by the eye.

In wood-effect tiles, two technologies – sinking inks and digital glues – are now used to produce timber simulations that both feel and look highly authentic. Now grain patterns and knots are not only reproduced in exquisite detail but are perfectly matched by the surface relief.

Cersaie also saw excellent interpretations of cork ﬂoor tiles; planks made to look like the timber decks of slipper launches from the 1960s, and tiles inspired by the highly polished hulls of Venetian motor launches.

Other design themes included unusual material combinations, such as wood and stone; as well as designs that reference the Japanese art of Kintsugi; pottery repairs using visible stitches.

But perhaps the most signiﬁcant trend at Cersaie was not about the products at all, but where they are used. In the past, manufacturers have concentrated on kitchen and bathroom applications in the domestic sphere, and ﬂoors, entrance halls, and façades in commercial settings. Now, with the growth of XXL formats slabs and panels, Cersaie hosts more and more porcelain worktops and ceramic furniture facings.

Meanwhile, 20mm and 30mm external tiles have blossomed, in line with the vogue for inside-out living featuring seamless ceramic transitions from internal to external spaces.

In 2022, Cersaie showcased many more bedroom applications, not only walls and ﬂoors, but also bed heads and bed frames. There were also many more displays of tiled hallways and corridors, ﬁreplaces, and outdoor kitchens.

Cersaie 2022 provided a lot of evidence that the ceramic tile sector is in good health. Alongside enhanced versions of timeless designs, some bold new creative directions that will challenge perceptions going forward.. Roll on Cersaie 2023!