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[June 2008]
Tecnargilla, Ceramics and Light
Tecnargilla, the international showcase of technology and supplies for the ceramics industry, will once again be organising a Ceramic Workshop, being held from 30 September to 4 October 2008. This year the space in question, first created in 2002 to present inspiring ideas about new horizons in ceramics decoration and applications in the homes and cities of the future, will be entitled ‘Ceramilights’ and will be located at the entrance to Rimini Fiera, in a space measuring 1,000 square metres.
The Ceramic Workshop will be investigating the relationship between ceramics and light. “The choice of this particular theme,” explained Paola Tinuper from the Milan-based architectural practice AzzoliniTinuper, who designed the event, “was based on a number of trends we are currently seeing in the world of materials. After years of minimalism and total absence of decoration, there is now a strong tendency towards significant use of decorative elements in the home, along with elegant, sophisticated finishes. Today’s materials are increasingly infused with light. And this resonance, this vitality, can be expressed in different ways.”
The marriage between ceramics and light is thus seen to be a dominant trend. Light helps ceramics convey vibrant energy and sensual appeal: that’s why the installation has been conceived as a sort of ethereal, luminous tunnel, closed off at each end by two larger volumes. The graphics and colours also emphasise the theme of light and the resonance of images and materials that are touched by it. The colour-drenched entrance is meant to be like a magnet that ushers visitors into an evenly-cadenced, gradual path of discovery, aided by vibrant, fluid graphics whose substance embodies the concept of light.
Inside the exhibition, ‘Colour Trends’, a familiar and always-popular section of Tecnargilla, will explore the metaphor of light through the latest colour palettes (super-light, super-dark, super-intense), finishes (bright, opalescent, metallic, high-gloss), textures (laser-treated surfaces under oblique lighting, micro- and macro-textures), and patterns (with a presentation of work from several silkscreening shops). In addition, there will be an installation where ceramic materials are used to express the theme of light with photo-luminescent pigments.
This year’s Ceramic Workshop has also drawn on the involvement of students from the IED (Istituto Europeo Design) in Milan and the ISIA in Faenza. The ‘Lab’ area will present their work: visions of ceramic applications and aesthetics for the kitchen and urban furnishings. The aim is to forge synergetic relationships with businesses that can offer students training and employment opportunities, while investing in research and professional skills.
www.tecnargilla.it
ENDS