CEMENT-EFFECT PORCELAIN STONEWARE: INDUSTRIAL STYLE IN INTERIOR DESIGN
At the end of the twentieth century there was a tendency in large cities like London, Berlin and New York, but also Milan, to convert disused factories and industrial spaces into lofts, residences and offices: the industrial style was born.
Still in vogue today, the industrial style has a taste for the unfinished and raw appearance of materials and an interest in restructured buildings. The preferred elements of the industrial style are aged wood, exposed brick and, above all, cement.
With cement-look stoneware coverings it is possible to strip modern residences and venues back to level zero – without decoration or superfluous elements and the need for onerous restoration work. Any environment, including homes, dining venues, hotels, offices and showrooms can be transformed.
Hotel Ambassador, Levico (TN)
For this hotel in Trentino, interior designer Alberto Buffolino chose to use stoneware coverings. He used the cement textures of the Matières de Rex Gris colour collection alongside the wood-effect stoneware from the Planches de Rex Noisette colour collection, creating a warm, highly evocative and classy environment.
The two textures are used autonomously, defining different environments but with the same element. The contrast produced has the power to highlight and embellish the area it affects. We find the textures on the counters, where they play on the different levels, in the coffered floor of the dining room and in the bathrooms, where cement-effect stoneware covering is framed by a wooden handrail and contrasts with the wood-effect sink tops.
In conclusion, cement-effect porcelain stoneware strips the environment of the superfluous, giving back to the spaces the very essence of materiality; a roughness that returns to simplicity but with touches of design that also embeds it in the contemporary world.
