July 28, 2021

After an extraordinary year that has proven incredibly challenging for the design community at large, Confindustria Ceramica (the Italian Association of Ceramics) and the Italian Trade Agency have announced the winners of the 2021 Ceramics of Italy Tile Competition, which annually honors North American architects and designers who use Italian ceramic and porcelain tile in creative ways. The international jury reviewed several impressive submissions from designers, architects and students across the U.S. and Canada, ultimately picking a record-breaking seven winners and two honorable mentions. The projects span four built categories – Commercial, Institutional, Multi-Family Residential and Single-Family Residential – and one student category.

Among this year’s winning projects are an expansive, tile-clad amenity club designed by Rockwell Group within a luxury apartment complex in Manhattan, Taller KEN’s biophilic single-family home in Costa Rica with natural-looking ceramic surfaces throughout, an unforgettable pool deck by Post Brothers with unique sculptural elements clad in porcelain and two imaginative renderings created by students at Pratt Institute that make extensive use of Italian tile. This year, the jury also selected two beautiful higher-education buildings as winning projects in the Institutional category. These projects, along with the honorable mentions, showcase many recent innovations from Italian manufacturers including large-format slabs and gauged porcelain tile panels, hyper-realistic surface designs and textures, and more.

The 2021 Tile Competition winners were announced at Coverings 2021 during the Ceramics of Italy press conference. Confindustria Ceramica and the Italian Trade Agency will also celebrate the winners during an awards ceremony in Bologna, Italy at Cersaie – the exhibition of ceramic tile and bathroom furnishings taking place in September 2021. To make up for the cancellation of Cersaie last year, winners from the 2020 Tile Competition will also be honored during that time.

Multi-Family Residential Winner
Firm: Rockwell Group
Project: The Waterline Club
Location: New York City
Tile Manufacturers: Florim
Distributor: Lazer Marble and Granite Corp.
Contractor: Garcia Marble and Tile

A luxury residential development on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, the Waterline Square Luxury Condominiums consist of three high-rise towers in a prime waterfront location on the Hudson River. Rockwell Group designed The Waterline Club, a comprehensive amenity space for residents that connects the complex’s three main buildings. Inside, among sweeping expanses and lofty ceilings, amenities include an indoor tennis court, basketball court, rock-climbing wall, fitness center, 25-meter lap pool, game room, art studio and countless more offerings for residents of all ages. With durability and elegance in mind, the designers selected large-format marble- and stone-look porcelain tiles by Florim to cover the walls and floors throughout the high-traffic lobby and peripheral lounge areas. Non-slip quartzite-effect tiles surround and line the inside of the pool, and statuario-esque porcelain tiles bring grandeur to the walls. Finally, a dark marble-effect porcelain slab from the brand’s Florim Stone range composes the bar top and backsplash area in the space’s party room.

Single-Family Residential Winner
Firm: Taller KEN
Project: Casa Las Vistas
Location: Escazu, San José Province, Costa Rica
Tile Manufacturers: Italgraniti; Ornamenta
Distributor: Kamalio
Contractor: AIE Construction

Set into a hillside in San José, Costa Rica, Casa Las Vistas’ refined material palette, floor-to-ceiling windows and curated furnishings draw attention to the lush natural surroundings. The designers at Taller KEN made extensive use of porcelain tile throughout the space, which, as a single-family residence home to young children, demanded functional, low-maintenance materials. Nordic stone-look porcelain floor tiles from Italgraniti in a calming, neutral palette ground the main living area and compliment the natural wood and concrete used throughout the room. Dark, metal-effect ceramic wall tiles, also from Italgraniti, serve as a contrasting backdrop for the home’s skylit indoor garden. In the kitchen, Ornamenta’s graphic geometric wall tiles decorate the backsplash, pairing nicely with concrete-effect tiles by Italgraniti on the floor. The minimalist palette continues upstairs with marble-look Ornamenta tiles covering the master bathroom floors and walls, and light-colored tiles from a metal-inspired Italgraniti collection lining the outdoor shower.

Single-Family Residential Honorable Mention
Firm: Mojo Stumer Associates
Project: Miami Penthouse
Location: Miami Beach, Florida
Tile Manufacturers: Florim (CEDIT)
Distributor: Florim
Contractor: Dutchmaster Tile and Marble
Installation Products: Mapei

In renovating the Miami Penthouse, the design team at Mojo Stumer Associates required a strong grounding element that would emphasize the height and significance of the space, support the open-plan living concept and highlight panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean – all while satisfying the client’s modern, industrial design style. With each of these goals in mind, the designers selected large-format, concrete-effect tiles by Florim’s CEDIT brand to clad the walls. Incidentally, the large-format slabs also served as the perfect backdrop for a carefully curated selection of furnishings and colorful artwork, which accent the space.

Student Winner (pictured above)
Entrants: Fangming Cai and Yang Pei
University: Pratt Institute
Declared Major: Interior Design
Project: Co-Living: Life and Art
Tiles Used: ABK; AVA Ceramica

Conceived as a shared living space for two artistic families in Manhattan’s Gramercy Park area, Co-Living: Life and Art supports unplanned collisions and spontaneous art sharing between residents. Pratt students Fangming Cai and Yang Pei selected various ceramic tiles by ABK and AVA Ceramica for the main flooring, walls and ceilings throughout the home, as well as the kitchen cabinets and countertops. The intentional use of different colors and finishes from zone to zone helps to establish boundaries between private and shared spaces and also reflects the amount of natural light in each room. Darker-colored tiles were used prominently in the private spaces where natural light is more abundant, and lighter-colored tiles help to brighten the central shared spaces, which are more reliant on artificial light. Overall, the neutral color palette and occasional bursts of patterned tile create a cozy yet stimulating work/life environment.