One of A+A’s favorite tile competitions has extended its deadline – but any interested design firm will need to respond today. There’s a cash prize for the winners, to be sure, but the finest part is an all-expense-paid, five-day excursion to September’s Cersaie tile show in Bologna, Italy. It’s the world’s biggest, best and most fun.
Check out the details here:
The Italian Association of Ceramics and the Italian Trade Agency have issued their call for entries for the 2019 Ceramics of Italy Tile Competition. The annual awards program recognizes work of top North American architects and designers who create imaginative spaces that incorporate the innovative technical and aesthetic qualities of Italian ceramic and porcelain tile.
In the three built categories – residential, institutional and commercial – projects can be domestic or international but must be designed by North America-based architects and designers, built or renovated between January 2014 and January 2019, and feature a significant amount of Italian ceramic or porcelain tile produced by Ceramics of Italy member companies. All styles and scales of projects will be considered – from multi-family housing and hospitality projects to outdoor spaces and façades. The jury’s official criteria includes: overall design of the project; aesthetic and technical quality of tile installation; degree to which the tile enhances the setting; and the project’s sustainable attributes.
Last year’s winners included Studio Libeskind for their extensive use of self-cleaning and air-purifying tiles for a Berlin apartment building; a contemporary home that pays homage to its fire-stricken past by Ziger/Snead; and a prestigious Engineering School with a focus on sustainable design by ZAS Architects + Interiors.
After the successful introduction of a new student category in last year’s competition, with winners Raquel Raney and Brennan Broome from Florida International University, the jury will once again review submissions from design and architecture students who produce imaginative solutions using Italian ceramic tile. Individuals or groups of students are invited to submit their projects in the form of renderings, floor plans and sketches. Students must be enrolled in an accredited university in North America in order to be eligible.
A+A recently sent a few questions to last year’s student winners; their responses are in italics here: below:
Our store design features diverse environments, with different flooring needs. Ceramic and porcelain tile became the most logical solution for those different applications, serving the desired purpose for each area, while being both environmentally friendly and cost effective. The variety afforded by the different manufacturers and collections of tile was able to represent the many identities of the multi-brand retail destination, where art and fashion collide into what founder Rei Kawakubo calls “beautiful chaos”. We were able to highlight some of our favorite brands out of Italy, such as, Ceramica Vogue, Atlas Concorde, and Ornamenta.
Ceramic and porcelain tile is an excellent option from a sustainability stand point as well. Having just received our LEED Green Associate accreditation, we look to make educated and responsible choices towards creating healthy and sustainable environments. Through proper installation and specification, ceramic tile can have a lifespan of 50+ years, reducing time, money and materials spent in the replacement process.
We are currently in our final semester of the Master’s of Interior Architecture program at Florida International University. As we progress in our education and gain more exposure in the professional world, at our internships at Edge of Architecture, our comprehension of materials grows as well. We learn about materials in school, reading from textbooks and lectures, but nothing compares to the exposure we have gained working in a firm, seeing the products directly. Whether it be from our reps, or going to trade shows, such as Coverings, we have gained first hand experience of the products that you can not get directly from the classroom.
Raquel Raney and Brennan Broome (LEED Green Associates) are interdisciplinary designers living and working in Miami, Florida. The duo makes up the collaborative studio Raneytown. Both are currently Master’s candidates of Interior Architecture at Florida International University, and intern at Miami-based hospitality design firm, Edge of Architecture.
Winners of the 2019 Tile Competition will be notified in March and officially announced at the Ceramics of Italy International Press Conference at Coverings – North America’s premier tile and stone tradeshow taking place in Orlando, FL from April 9-12, 2019. Built projects displaying the highest level of functionality, creativity, sustainability and aesthetic appeal are awarded a prize package that includes $3,000 cash, an all-expenses paid trip to Orlando, FL for Coverings to present their project, plus a 5-day CEU-accredited trip to Bologna, Italy to attend Cersaie – the world’s largest exhibition of ceramic tile and bathroom furnishings – with a delegation of top design media. An additional $1,000 will be awarded to the contractor/distributor team involved in each winning project. The winning student entry will receive an all-expenses paid trip to Orlando to present their project in front of a large audience of media, manufacturers and tile industry professionals at Coverings 2019.
There is no fee to enter and multiple submissions are accepted.
For more, go here.
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