Perspectives by Ferruccio Laviani for Lea Ceramiche on stage at Milan Design Week

Lea Ceramiche presented Perspectives, an installation curated by the Italian architect Ferruccio Laviani that came to life inside the Giardino dei Platani of the Humanitarian Society of Milan, a green area close to Chiostri di San Barnaba.

A fascinating and historical place, as well as a setting of great inspiration to tell the beauty, opportunities and innovation expressed by the ceramic material produced by the company.

Part of Panariagroup Industrie Ceramiche Spa, an Italian multinational group, world leader in the production and distribution of ceramic surfaces for floors and walls, Lea Ceramiche is well known for its perfect synthesis of visionary design and technological performance.

The Perspectives installation was, once more, an opportunity to give voice to years of research and continuous innovation.

Along the walkways of the Giardino dei Platani, the architect Ferruccio Laviani, who has been collaborating with the company for years, has imagined a path in ceramics to investigate the kaleidoscopic perspectives that open up for architecture .

“I thought of an exhibition halfway between an installation and the land art. A different way of experiencing ceramics in a combination that includes mineral and vegetable, architecture and art, experience and visual perception, through the language of LEA Ceramiche collections” – says Laviani.

“For this installation, we chose the Absolut collection, made of whites and blacks, matt and glosses tiles. From my point of view, it was the most representative one because it goes beyond the declinations of ceramics in other materials – imitation of wood or marble, for instance. I wanted ceramic, so the original material, to show itself. A neutral collection from a chromatic point of view, but technologically advanced (only 3.5 mm thick).” adds Laviani.

A succession of ultra-thin ceramic slabs alternate to create a sort of perspective telescope obtained through cracks that recall natural ravines at the bottom to which one can look.

A sequence of shaped partitions covered with very thin, almost imperceptible white ceramic slabs, ends in colored planes: after the initial whiteness, Perspectives allowed visitors to glimpse a new horizon, where color becomes a metaphor for the multiplicity of architectural scenarios that Lea Ceramiche intends to investigate.

“Perpectives offers the visitors multiple reading points. From my point of view, it also anticipates a work I am doing with Lea Ceramiche for a new collection where colors are very important. Consequently, I liked to use this neutral material which, at the end of the ‘tunnel’, makes it clear that something colorful coming, which is not there yet, but will arrive.“

Lea Ceramiche’s mission: beauty, technology and sustainability

To create the path, Lea Ceramiche offered the best of its Slimtech 3plus technology: large-format laminated porcelain stoneware, extraordinary light, thanks to the ultra-thin thickness of only 3.5mm.

A versatile and resistant material, able to offer new perspectives in the world of architecture and living, expression of a technology that revolutionizes the traditional production process to obtain a completely new and sustainable solution.

The thickness, reduced by 2/3 compared to traditional tiles, requires a lower consumption of raw materials, energy and water. In addition, it also reduces transport pollution and CO2 emissions.

“We have gone from 100 x 100 cm formats, with thicknesses of 1 cm, sometimes even more, to 3.5 mm today. This means a much lower use of the raw material.” says Ferruccio Laviani.

The large thin slabs also lend themselves to a sustainable renewal of spaces: they can be laid overlapping existing materials, (without therefore creating construction waste) without the use of glue, to be recovered in a real logic of circular economy.

We have often talked about sustainability, circularity and waste design on DesignWanted, and we know how important innovative materials and technologies are in this perspective.

Their virtuous production and application can unleash numerous new possibilities for architects, products and interior designers.

Today, more than ever, we need a combination of technological possibilities and respect for the environment.

“Ferruccio Laviani masterfully interprets one of our core products: large ultra-thin slabs. With an installation that is anything but obvious, we can show how ceramic is able to constantly open up to new scenarios, new possibilities, fully expressing the innovative spirit that characterizes Lea Ceramiche.” says Andrea Anghinetti, brand manager at Lea Ceramiche.

“Our company has always anticipated, also thanks to the collaboration with excellent interpreters, unusual forms and languages for porcelain stoneware, capable of stimulating the best projects to come. Today, we like to do it by telling how we can work with the infinite palette of possibilities that architecture offers us. Without forgetting the highest and noblest challenge: to do it with the utmost respect for sustainability.”

The Perspectives installation made visitors experience ceramics in an unusual way, offering a new dimension and renewed architectural perspectives.