Contract - March 2013 - (Page 26)

Cevisama 2013 photography: lori dolniCk (top); emily hooper (bottom left); Courtesy apariCi (bottom right) exhibition: Cevisama Technological advances in Spanish tile capture both glamour and nostalgia reproductions of 19th century spanish hydraulic cement tiles are achieved through digital inkjet printing on mainzu’s hydraulic Collection (above) and aparici’s vanguard (top right), that gets a mod update when installed beside the black-and-white moving Collection. also from aparici, fuel’s textured metallic (far right) is achieved through reactive glazes that expand and rise in the third and final firing phase. Ceracasa’s absolute collection (right) prints a true metal to the tile’s body via ionized pressure. Spain’s Cevisama 2013, one of the largest international trade fairs devoted to tile, attracted a large audience—with an estimated 13,000 visitors from the foreign markets alone—to peruse the latest stone and ceramic wares and solutions for architecture and design. Several new initiatives were announced at the show including a new visual identity for the Spanish Ceramic Tile Manufacturer’s Association (ASCER) Tile of Spain brand; colocation with the Habitat home goods fair in 2014; and the launch of a Contract Business Area to provide Spanish ceramics manufacturers with insight for growth in contract, institutional, and hospitality applications. The revitalizations are in response to a decrease in domestic tile purchases by 20 percent over the last year, though exports of Spanish tile increased by more than 10 percent. “The reduction of consumption is a stabilization,” says Pedro Riaza, secretary general, ASCER. “I think this year we can give ourselves a noteworthy grade because we are doing well considering [the economic climate].” This year’s show indicated that Spanish tile manufacturers are investing heavily in the latest technologies, namely high-definition 26 inkjet printing processes, to produce unique and innovative designs that respond to a bevy of current international trends. Virtually any image—from life-like photographs to brand logos to textural minutia— could be transferred to ceramic tile, but prevalent at the exhibition were nostalgic reproductions of handmade Spanish tiles in the hydraulic cement style. Standout examples included Natucer’s Cementi and Peronda’s Hidraulico, among others. The continued interest in reclaimed and raw materials surfaced in the form of printed distressed wood– pattern tiles in cooler undertones. Companies such as Aparici indicated a major trend in advancing metallic tile production. Factories are utilizing techniques to gently fuse metallics and frits to a tile’s surface at exacted temperatures, consuming oxides in the glaze to leave only the glittering minerals. And a new printing process from Ceracasa fuses a metallic mineral to the tile biscuit through ionized pressure for a mirror-like sheen. —emily hooper contractdesign.com march 2013 http://www.contractdesign.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Contract - March 2013

Contract - March 2013
Contents
Editorial
Industry News
Columnist: Gaining Projects in the Education Market
Exhibition: Cevisama
Product Focus: On the Move
Product Briefs: Education
University of Toronto Rotman School of Management
Bangkok University Imagine Lounge
Lorain County Community College iLoft
Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall, Sonoma State University
Forum Overview: Contract Design Forum Looks Toward the Future
Designers Select: Education Solutions
Sources
Ad Index
Perspectives

Contract - March 2013