Three-dimensional square
Innovation and applied creativity: decades of product research by Ceramiche Refin has now been put into fruition by the projects by Massimiliano Adami, Lorenzo Damiani, Luca Nichetto previewed in Milano.
Besides the remarkable installation in front of Triennale Palace, Refin's exibition will be placed at Refin Studio showroom, as well. A recently inaugurated new space in the heart of Milan, to promote a dialogue between architects and professionals.
If it is true that the square is the classic shape of the ceramic tile, then it is also true that, not only does it stir symbolic memories in our minds, but also democratic ones.
But a square is also a two-dimensional geometric shape, and requires a certain amount of imagination to picture it as a three-dimensional form in the depths of space and time.
The seeming contradiction of the definition has a logic, an almost algorithmic one: three designers involved in one project, three paths to chose from in a bid to take ceramic covering to a new level of evolution.
But this third dimension is a treacherous one, an attempt at discovering other paths, to understand just how successfully product design can morph into process design, stimulating our senses, transmuting all possible destinations of use, implanting new ways of behaviour.
Experimentation is therefore not only the articulation of the results, but, first and foremost, is intrinsic to requirements.
Perspectives change and perhaps, if we look closely enough, a square can have more than three dimensions.
Art direction e graphic design Roberto Bandiera, testi Chiara Pagani, exhibition design Luca Ferigo, photo by Matteo Cirenei
Massimiliano Adami 
TERRAVIVA,
a human intervention, natural and temporal at the same time, on the rigid geometry of ceramic tiles
The geometry of a tile is rigid, symmetric and orthogonal by nature but, at the same time, ceramics have an organic, ever-changing soul. Porcelain stoneware is therefore a compact, almost eternal material to which surface decorations bringing to mind other textures can be easily added.
An almost-perfect balance, that, however, can be contaminated rediscovering the most natural essence of the product - if we think about it as something created by and from earth - to obtain a sign/décor that is neither artefact nor camouflaged but a décor which strongly affirms the composition and intrinsic characteristics of the product. But the flaw is this, the accidental interference of man and nature, which takes on different shapes according to the type of material. From an imperfection it becomes an aesthetic, as well as even a metaphorical symbol, the pure expression of the passage of time that cannot overlook anything: as wrinkles on faces show the course of life, cracks transform floors, subordinating man to natural cycles.
Massimiliano Adami (1969) studied design at the Istituto Statale d'Arte in Monza and at the Design Faculty of the Politecnico in Milan. From his debut in 1998 with the exhibition "Il fantasma del design", he has taken part in various contests and exhibitions, leading to his successful participation at the Salone Satellite in 2005.
Thanks to his experimentation on materials and manufacturing techniques, based heavily on those of the traditional craftsman, his work falls half way between art and design, combining project-planning with self-production. Massimiliano Adami collaborates with various companies such as Cappellini, Meritalia, Gruppo Fendi/DesignMiami.
His projects are frequently showcased in important design galleries: Moss in New York, Rossana Orlandi in Milan, Ottobarradieci in Bergamo, Onepieceart in Rome.
In 2009, his work "Fossili Moderni" was included in the permanent collection of the Design Museum in Milan, following the "Magma Fossile" exhibition organised by Stefano Maffei at the Triennale.
Lorenzo Damiani
SEGNI,
a democratic intent in the formal/decorative/material recovery as well as in the search of technical solutions
Despite project-planning diversity which is often appreciated and sought-after at any cost, a collection of democratic tiles that acts in the opposite way to intrusive aesthetics and expanded dimensions, towards a return to normality and to a simple and reserved size: the classic 20x20 square framed by the joint. Tiles are manufactured using recycled material and the decoration purposely recalls traditional designs developed in a contemporary way: reconnections of the past with stylised fruit, geometrical shapes and signs deliberately marked on the surface using a finger, thus creating shifting and deposits and highlighting all the strength and impulse of a gesture. A choice "for all", that satisfies everyday needs and makes installation of the tile easy thanks to the technical flash of genius contained in the structure of the tile itself: a spacer directly created in the tile profile allows for the laying of adjacent tiles predetermining the space necessary for the gout lines without the need to use spacer crosses.
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Lorenzo Damiani was born in 1972 and, after his degree in architecture at the Politecnico in Milan, majored in industrial design at the Scuola Politecnica di Design. Lorenzo Damiani deals with furniture and product design and has collaborated with many companies such as Campeggi, Cappellini, Montina, Acqua di Parma, Skitsch, Abet Laminati, Erreti, Omnidecor, Coop, Illy Caffè, IB Rubinetterie, BBB EmmeBonacina, Ceramica Flaminia. His designs created for Flex (Montina) and OnlyOne (IB Rubinetterie) are part of a permanent collection at the Museum of Architecture and Design in Chicago.
Lorenzo Damiani obtained numerous awards: in 1998, the Progetto Giovane-Compasso d'Oro, in 2001 and 2008 the mention of honour at Compasso d'Oro; in 2001 and 2007 the Good Design Award; in 2001 and 2004 he won the first prize at the Young&Design contest. Three personal exhibitions: "Il Doppio Senso delle Cose" curata da Cristina Morozzi nel 2003 alla Fiera di Milano; "In-Coerenza", at the Otto Gallery in Bologna in 2004 and "Ma Dove Sono Finiti gli Inventori? Lorenzo Damiani", organised by Marco Romanelli at the Triennale in Milan in 2009.
Luca Nichetto
GROOVE,
focus on the material, on its composition and production processes as a symbol of technological innovation
Porcelain stoneware is considered an artificial product, frequently used as a substitute of natural products. However, if we delve a little deeper, it actually looks more like the perfect union between substance and technique: the focus on using recycled materials, which Refin have chosen to use for many of their products, can therefore be embraced by the production technologies that the company has at its disposal.
The project reveals the molecular structure of the material, reinterpreting it with a three dimensional intervention in relief which gives its macro-texture back. This first intervention is then overlapped by the printing of images inspired and awoken by the world of building and recycling, images that look under and beyond the ceramic covering - waste, "installation", the industrial fingerprint.
Implementing complex production processes to experiment the simultaneous application of different manufacturing techniques interfacing technology with new expressive potentials: decors in relief, rotocolor printing, digital printing layer the tile to enrich the material, give it new identity and open up new horizons of potential development.
Luca Nichetto was born in Venice and after graduating in industrial design he started to collaborate with Salviati and Foscarini. In 2006, he founded his own agency, Nichetto&Partners, dealing with industrial design and design consulting. Luca Nichetto is currently working in association with many internationally renowned companies such as Bonaldo, Bosa, Casamania by Frezza, Emmegi, Foscarini, Fratelli Guzzini, Gallotti & Radice, Italesse, Kristalia, Moroso, Offecct, Salviati, Venini.
In 2009 he created the Essence collection, jointly produced by Bosa and Venini, displayed in a touring exhibition inaugurated at the Laboratorio 2729 in Venice, then at the 107Rivoli in Paris and at the Vessel Gallery in London.
Amongst the numerous awards he has won, Luca Nichetto was awarded the Elle Decoration International Design Awards 2009 (EDIDA) in the Young Designer Talent category.
