Valencia has been in the news. On October 29, an isolated area of low pressure brought a year’s worth of rain to Spain’s east coast in a single day. By the time the damage was tallied, the torrential floods amounted to one of the deadliest natural disasters in the nation’s history, with a death toll of 229. The Valencian Community, which forms a hub of design culture and the nerve centre of the country’s thriving ceramics industry, experienced some of the worst damage. Planned months in advance, Azure and Tile of Spain’s Spanish Design in Canada seminar took place at Toronto’s Hart House a week later on November 8.
Although the timing made for a reflective atmosphere, it also offered an apt moment to celebrate a richly historic yet invariably adaptable and forward-looking design heritage. Local designers Aránzazu González Bernardo and Nicolas Koff shared their experiences — in a talk now available in its entirety online — using Tile of Spain ceramics in both Canadian and international contexts.
Odami founder and Spanish-born architect González Bernardo set the stage, describing how Spanish design culture translates to contemporary ceramics. “There’s a rich history and an existing context in Spain, with many layers over many centuries. As a designer, you know that everything you do didn’t start with us, and it won’t end with us,” said González Bernardo. It’s a culture that that resonates around the world, she explained, pointing to the example of Valencia-born Rafael Guastavino Moreno, who introduced a variation of the historic Catalan vault to New York’s Grand Central Station in the 1880s. Inspired by Spanish heritage, Guastavino Moreno’s system of interlocking terracotta tiles was a showcase for the future. “This combination of history and innovation is very Spanish,” said González Bernardo.
It’s a heritage that continues to resonate around the world. Today, Toronto-based Odami — co-founded by González Bernardo and Michael Fohring — is defined by a distinct mix of Spanish and Canadian sensibilities, including an embrace of Tile of Spain ceramics. Meanwhile, Office Ou co-founder Nicolas Koff presented his firm’s recently completed National Children’s Museum of Korea, a landmark cultural building clad entirely in Tile of Spain terracotta.
“We wanted a material that was tactile and friendly and natural, but one where we could also do something fun for a children’s space,” said Koff. “But we also wanted something that would become a backdrop for a whole host of other activities, and that would create a stage for children and the landscape to gradually take over the space.” The result is a complex artfully defined by its terracotta facades, which were designed as uneven triangular extrusions that would only be glazed on one side, creating a soft or vivid aesthetic, depending on the angle of approach.
The seminar was paired with an exhibition featuring 11 Tile of Spain companies: ADEX USA, Azteca, Cevica, Decocer, Estudio Cerámico, Natucer, Peronda Group, Porcelanosa, STN Cerámica, TAU, Vives Cerámica. The event was organized in partnership with the Economic and Commercial Office of Spain in Toronto. who remain available to distributors and specifiers interested in finding channels of distribution for Spanish ceramic tiles into the Canadian market. The office can be reached at: Toronto@comercio.mineco.es
This content was published by Azure on behalf of Tile of Spain.
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