Tile | Naturally-Colored Tiles by Patricia Urquiola

Patricia Urquiola is a Spanish designer who studied at the Polytechnic Universities of Madrid and Milan. Her career began in Italy and today she works on architecture projects for private homes, hotels and showrooms. She’s received awards including a Wallpaper Design Award, Elle Decoration International Design Award and Designer of the Year for the first time in 2003 and numerous times after.

In the Dezeen video linked to this post Urquiola discusses her design philosophy behind tiles she created for Mutina Ceramiche, where she was appointed as art director in 2011. The video comes from last year’s Clerkenwell Design Week, where Urquiola was showcasing her Azulej line of porcelain tiles. A feature of the set of 27 patterns was natural colors, eschewing what the designer called “strong colors.”

Urquiola explains further in her description of the set on Mutina’s web site:

“With the collection Azulej, we would like to evaluate the memory of the hydraulic cement, experimenting an innovative digital printing technique which enables the production of a high diffusion product. The patterns deliberately combine different aesthetic languages: memories, geometrical schemes, floral design, all developed both in a longitudinal and diagonal direction. The process has exponentially developed, and we have managed only to sketch some possible combinations..and now, it’s up to you!”

Above image: Tiles by Patricia Urquiola for Mutina Ceramiche.

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“We never use strong colours for our tiles” – Patricia Urquiola from Dezeen on Vimeo.

Patricia Urquiola’s interview with Dezeen prior to Clerkwenwell Design Week 2013.

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Contact Patricia Urquiola

Read more about Urquiola’s work with Mutina

Read Dezeen’s coverage of Urquiola

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