Iris Ceramica Group’s Magical Journey transforms ceramics into alchemy
From alchemical symbolism to cutting-edge water-based technology, the Italian brand redefines ceramics as a living, precious substance — like gold shaped by human hands.
Celebrating forty years of the International Exhibition of Ceramic surfaces and Bathroom Furnishings (held in Bologna from 22 to 26 September 2025), Iris Ceramica Group presented The Magical Journey – Revealing Our Alchemical Soul: an experiential installation that turned ceramics into metaphor, art, and innovation. Conceived as a Magnum Opus — the alchemical process through which base matter is transmuted into the philosopher’s stone — the exhibition explored how ceramics becomes “gold,” symbolically expressing the Group’s cultural and technological vision and its commitment to revealing the intrinsic, noble value of this matter. A kind of “magical formula” that allows this precious material to disguise itself, decompose, recompose — and ultimately overturn reality.
At the fair, the Group’s exhibition space (Hall 26, Booth A188–B189) unfolded as a narrative in three chapters, with ceramics as the medium through which visitors experienced this magical journey of transformation. The path began with Breaking, the moment of rupture that shattered ordinary perception; continued with Glowing, an act of purification; and concluded with Revealing, where a new reality emerged.
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The transformation took shape inside the Tunnel of Metamorphosis, where matter seemed to dissolve and reform, crossing the Magic Door — a metaphysical portal serving as a ritual of purification — and leading finally into the Space of Perceptions, where design reshaped reality through a perfect balance of perspective and illusion. The entire experience came to life through the digital morphings created by visual artist Lorenza Liguori, who interpreted the first two stages of the journey (Breaking and Glowing). Meanwhile, the ceramic skin, together with the installations and applied technology, defined the unexpected dimension of the final phase.
Breaking marked the beginning of the alchemical journey — the rupture that initiates every process of growth and change. Visitors entered an environment designed to challenge perception itself: a digital landscape where reflections and refractions deconstructed the image of the surrounding space. With Glowing, the journey moved into its purifying phase, allowing perception to evolve and detach from traditional notions.
Beyond the magic portal, the immersive experience opened into an ethereal realm of classical architectural elements, turned upside down. This is the culmination of The Magical Journey: Revealing, the final revelation — the moment of awareness in which one recognizes the transformation that has taken place.
This immersive experience reached its climax with Alchimia & Iris Ceramica Group, a sophisticated technology developed by VBH specifically for integration into the Group’s ceramic slabs. This exclusive system concealed audio and video components within the ceramic surface, creating a captivating interplay of appearance and disappearance — perfectly aligned with the theme of transformation. The result was a synthesis of material and immaterial: ceramics that spoke, resonated, and illuminated while preserving their timeless elegance. This metamorphosis bridged two worlds — high-end technology and enduring design. It was the contemporary expression of alchemy itself: a dialogue where matter, light, and sound converged into a single poetic gesture.
Beyond metaphor, Iris Ceramica Group’s alchemy also takes tangible form through its revolutionary water-based technology for ceramic production. This innovation introduced water-based inks and structuring materials used for both decoration and surface formation, applied to slabs in 6, 12, and 20 mm thicknesses across brands including Ariostea, Fiandre, FMG, and Sapienstone. A first for the industry, the process combines environmental sustainability with exceptional aesthetic performance, enhancing texture, depth, and chromatic nuance.
The transition to water-based technology required a significant re-engineering of production systems to maintain the outstanding quality that defines the Group’s brands. The result: surfaces of extraordinary visual and tactile intensity, produced through a process that reduces emissions while advancing the Group’s long-standing commitment to sustainable innovation. Now implemented in two production lines — with plans to extend them — this invisible alchemy marks a decisive step toward a more responsible, future-oriented ceramics industry. Here, sustainability becomes a creative act, and beauty, an ethical choice.
For Iris Ceramica Group, ceramics are never static. They are living matter — embodying beauty and function, art and technology, emotion and performance. This philosophy is encapsulated in the concept of beautility: the seamless fusion of beauty and utility.
Throughout history, ceramics have evolved alongside humankind — from prehistoric vessels and ritual artifacts to Mesopotamian and Egyptian glazes, from Renaissance majolica to the avant-garde experiments of the twentieth century. Iris Ceramica Group carries this legacy forward through its mission to Reengineer ceramics for the Better.” This declaration elevates ceramics beyond their functional role, infusing them with new meaning through technological innovation and sustainable design.
The nobility of ceramics lies in their duality: precious yet versatile, ancient yet forward-looking. Like gold shaped by human hands, they symbolize transformation — a kind of alchemy that deconstructs and recomposes matter, reshaping our perception of reality. Today, ceramics have become a universal language — an alphabet of textures, colours, and forms that freely navigate the realms of creativity and expression.
From ancient alchemy to contemporary sustainability, Iris Ceramica Group continues to turn ceramics into something extraordinary — a material that reflects not only light and matter but also the evolving spirit of our time. In this synthesis, the Group reaffirms its mission: reimaging ceramics as a dynamic force that connects the human and the material, the visible and the invisible. Because every act of creation is, ultimately, an act of transformation — and every transformation, a form of alchemy.
