LONDON—This Just In! We have your tile porn for the week. This time it’s TurkishCeramics‘ immersive installation at The London Design Festival 2017. Composed of four, four-meter high archways, the installation’s lush organic patterns typically found in Turkish ceramic architecture evolve into more contemporary geometric and electric-colored patterns commonly found today, Gateways leads you on a delicious optical journey through the central fountain space of King’s Cross’ Granary Square as part of designjunction. They are encompassing and mesmerizing.
Each gate is distinct and encompasses a different design story in a vibrant and contemporary language, ranging from the artisanal handcrafted ceramics of the Ottoman Empire to the innovative products of today.
Designed by Adam Nathaniel Furman, the installation enabled visitors to experience the richness of Turkish culture, DesignBoom writes.
The first gate, covered in hand painted tiles, references the Iznik tradition of Turkish ceramics, the company writes, which express a narrative of paradise. The second Wood & Stone gate draws from traditional architectural materials, while playfully arranging them in a popular chevron pattern. The Retro Gate uses tiles commonly found in active public spaces—vibrant and durable—they echo the “funky seventies,” while highlighting the contemporary ceramics from Turkish Ceramics. The final structure, the Metro Gate, features Edwardian-esque black and white tiles.
The bold, vibrant and colorful ‘gateways’ each display a distinct design story, ranging from artisanal handcrafted tiles of the ottoman empire to the innovative products of today.
Furman describes the installation as drawing from Turkey’s rich cultural and architectural history and well as its high versatility in modernity.
“From the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, the Safavid facades of Isfahan’s Naqsh-e Jahan Square, and Sinan’s divine Ottoman mosques, to the maiolica cloisters of Santa Chiara in Naples, the gothic terracotta of the soaring Woolworth building in New York, and the famous red glazed ceramic Underground Stations of London, ceramics have always been, and continue to be, both the most historic, resonant and traditional, as well as the most fresh, perpetually surprising, delightful and exciting of architectural materials. There is no other architectural treatment that has remained as fresh, relevant and cool as ceramics has from a thousand years BC, right through into the 21st Century.
Hailing from a country that is home to an unbroken lineage of some of the greatest ceramic traditions and deployment of the most up to date technologies and aesthetics, Turkish ceramics perfectly represents both the future, and the glorious past. I feel honoured Turkisceramics has invited me to create an installation using this incredibly versatile and rich building material.”
Images © hufton + crow
Do you love or loathe this tile installation from the worlds of contemporary ceramic art and contemporary ceramics? We want to hear from you!
Related articles:
Russ + Henshaw: Tile Mile
Ipek Kotan: Mining Gold
I love the way the archways work as an installation, every angle brings a new geometric matrix and exciting colour field. The tiles are inspiring and give an awesome insight into the breadth of the field and Turkey’s grand ceramic accomplishments, their truely wonderful gift to the world.
The installation is good but Turkish ceramics is so much more than tile. Doing tile is too easy.
I would hope that there was an attempt to show the depth and breadth of Turkish ceramics inside the event.
Love this installation, wish I could see it in person.